Not to make things worse then they areNo wonder Indonesia for SA is a dead deal. Go Quebec Go. V.EAG. Cheers.
https://www.geonomicinvesting.com/gold-mining-in-indonesia-2207/
Gold Mining in Indonesia
March 10, 2014 By pmacpherson
Indonesia is a country made up of almost 20,000 individual islands, and across these islands is a vast amount of mineral wealth.
Indonesia last ranked as the ninth largest gold producer in the world, accounting for approximately 4% of gold production he country holds about as much gold as The United States, according to the USGS, but the U.S. is well ahead in production ranking when compared to Indonesia. The U.S. is currently the third biggest producer of gold on an annual basis.
Despite being home to the world’s largest gold mine: the Grasberg mine, Indonesia lags a bit on production due to the overall challenges the country faces, which includes high levels of poverty and unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, corruption, and a complicated regulatory environment.
Evidence that these challenges hit the country’s gold production can easily be seen by comparing annual gold production in the country over the course of multiple years. While it is normal to see some fluctuations between years, when looking at Indonesia there are huge swings in production. Quite often, these swings can be linked to protests, mine shutdowns, and other political developments that take a bite out of the country’s gold production.
Violent attacks (including assassinations, robberies and sabotage) are unfortunately fairly common around the country’s mines. A lot of these tensions come from disagreements over how the profits made from mining should be distributed. Many of the country’s large mines are located near very poor living conditions – and these people see miners raking in big profits and wonder how they can get their hands on a bigger piece of the pie.
Meanwhile, the regulatory environment in Indonesia is complex, and it is not always certain that the government is making the best decision for its people. This year the government implemented new mining rules, which included the progressive tax and a mineral ore export ban, to force companies to build smelters and process raw materials in Indonesia. When the government implemented these rules it acknowledged that it would hurt the economy in the short-term, but over the long term it would be a good decisions. Just over a month after these new rules were implemented the government decided to “ease” these rules. This change came after data showed that around $500 million a month in ore and concentrate exports were stopped since the rules were imposed.