The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), has planned to issue artisanal mining permits (IPR) in three regencies of the Bangka Belitung Islands province to allow local tin miners to operate legally.
“The Ministry of ESDM is currently developing the technical guidelines (juknis) for these IPRs,” Fery Afriyanto, Acting Secretary of the Bangka Belitung Islands province, said in Pangkalpinang on Saturday, June 8, 2024.
Fery elaborated that the Ministry is preparing these guidelines for three designated artisanal mining areas (WPR) in Central Bangka, South Bangka, and East Belitung, aiming to ensure that local tin miners follow proper procedures and regulations.
“The draft includes creating norms, standards, procedures, and criteria (NSPK) for these WPR blocks,” he said.
Beyond IPR, the Bangka Belitung provincial administration proposes a partnership model to support local miners who want to mine within the concession areas (IUP) of established mining companies, such as State-owned tin miner PT Timah.
“This initiative allows PT Timah to allocate parts of its IUP areas to cooperatives of artisanal miners, thus supporting local mining communities,” Fery said.
Fery called on local miners to be patient while the IPR technical guidelines are being finalized and to avoid illegal tin mining activities.
“These guidelines are essential as they contain regulations for environmental documentation and the obligations of IPR holders to practice good mining principles, especially in environmental management and mining safety,” he said.
