On 24 May, about 100 people attended in person the Djakarta Mining Club’s/Coal Club Indonesia ninth anniversary meeting. Following COVID-19 protocols did not dampen the enthusiasm of meeting up with old friends and opening up new networking contacts, according to Ian Wollff, principal geologist/independent consultant.
“We were eased into the formal gathering with a few words from Chairman Mangtar Marpaung who reminded us that it is our work over the past 50 years that has developed today’s mining industry,” Wollff said. “This was followed with Lawson leading a discussion group of Scott Brady (McCloskey), David Wyllie (SMG Home My Network consultants) and Daniel Bowman (lawyer).
“Then a sombre jobs remembrance for the passing of the DMC founder, David John Duffy, followed by awarding three student scholarships and the formal thanking of the many DMC sponsors.
“The chatting included the outlook on the coal industry market being influenced by the China and India market, with new European interest. The coal market is bifurcating over high and medium/low coal thermal values. The REE industry is in its infancy, where hurdles of regulation, commercial scale and investors/SOEs are being looked at, particularly about the tin and monazite industry around Banka.
“The wider mining industry is going through dramatic changes (January coal export ban, growth in nickel, etc.) wherein the mining industry resilience continues to shine through. Network chatting also revealed some concern that frequent staff changes in the ESDM can make lobbying difficult to encourage an improved direction for the mining industry,” Wollff concluded.
And don’t forget about Nickel Summit 2022, being held 22-24 August. It will be held with a hybrid concept, where the conference will run in person and virtual at the same time to be able to accommodate a global audience. Expo and workshops will be held virtually and all events that will be held in person will follow the applicable health protocol standards from the Indonesian government. Conference topics include:
Market Outlook. Nickel plays an important role in Indonesia economic growth, and this session will analyze the market and understanding of global demand. This will help identify and mitigate risks for mining stakeholders and investors to build understanding of this dynamic sector and learn from leading respective organizations on how their market strategies are being adopted.
Investment. This is an opportunity for mining stakeholders and investors to hear about project updates and new development of nickel projects including smelter development; plus challenges and opportunities for operations, and capitalisation to increase investment intelligently and responsibly.
Technology. This session will discuss how mining will look in the future, including new innovations that can be applied to increase efficiency and productivity. It will also offer ideas for successful application of technology in a project and how the workforce can adapt to today’s technology.
Sustainability. This discussion will centre on how the mining industry contributes to protecting the environment and community development, including corporate social responsibility. It will also discuss how ESG performance plays an important role in operations and influences investment decisions in the mining industry.
We appreciate the report from Ian and enjoy our affiliation with the Djakarta Mining Club.
Mark S. Kuhar, editor
(330) 722‐4081
Djakarta Mining Club