Bintan pays gov’t $1.2m in export duty
BINTAN Mining SI Limited, the mining firm contracted by Asia Pacific Investment Development (APID) Ltd, has so far exported four shipments of bauxite from its Rennell operations.
That’s according to documents obtained from Customs.
And the company paid $1.2 million in export duty to the government on a shipment sent in February this year to China.
APID holds the mining lease for Rennell island and has contracted Bintan SI Limited to do the operation.
Bintan SI Limited is different from PT Mega Bintang Borneo Limited, the Indonesian firm, which the government last week cancelled its exploration licence.
Documents also showed Bintan made a royalty payment of $342,567 to landowners last month.
But because landowners still don’t have a bank account, the payment is being held at the Central Bank.
Renbel Province, according to the documents, is poised to receive $1.6 million a year in business licence and other fees from the mining operation.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for APID confirmed they’ve received a letter of intention from the government to cancel its mining lease.
The notice of intention to cancel was made by the Mines and Minerals Board during their meeting on April 30 this year.
The notice to cancel the Company’s Mining Lease is in accordance to section 71 of the Mines and Mineral Act for failure to meet conditions required by the board.
APID was given 14 days to response to the letter.
The spokesman said:
“Yes, we’ve got the letter and are working on our response.
“We believe we’ve been complying with all the requirements under the Mining Act.
“We believe we’ve also meet all our financial obligations to the landowners, the province, and the national government.
“We are the only mining company operating on Rennell that paid its business licence and other fees to the province.”
Meanwhile, the Government says it is now negotiating with APID on the royalty payments for the four shipments it made since it was granted a mining lease late last year.
The government recently imposed a 20 per cent export tax on bauxite shipments, the highest in the world.
