9.4.

COAL RESOURCES

9.4.1. BY AREA

Table 1 shows estimates of coal resources by island over time. It can be seen
that perceived resources have generally been increasing due to increased
exploration. Although resource figures can increase due to exploration, it is
important to remember that they can also decrease, it additional drilling shows
that seams that were previously thought to be continuous Shows zones of
thinning or of decreased quality.

Table 2 shows reserves data divided into provinces and by level of confidence
in the existence of' the resources. Resources to the left of' the table have a
higher confidence associated with their existence than those categories to the
right.

Resources in Sumatera total about 1-5 billion (25 thousand million) tonnes of
which less than 3 billion tonnes are proved up to a stage suitable lor the
establishment of a mine. The majority of the Sumateran coal resources are in
South Sumatera with less than one billion tonnes of resources in Central
Sumatera proved tip to a high level of confidence. It follows that most of the
resources in Sumatera are in the Probable and Possible categories and,
again, these are dominantly in South and Central Sumatera. Bengkulu
Province contains a number of important but small mines but does not have a
large resource base.

Within Kalimantan, the main areas in terms of' coal resources are in South
Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. Due to extensive drilling in South and East
Kalimantan, resources listed are more heavily biased to the Potential category
than those of Sumatera with much tonnages listed for the other categories
being only about two to three times those in the Potential category. This
reflects exploration of known deposits but may not fully reflect the potential for
discovery of new deposits. In East Kalimantan, Potential resources are listed
as less than I billion tonnes but probable resources exceed 2.5 billion tonnes.

Some coal is present in Central and East Kalimantan but has not been
extensively explored although SDM and a private company are understood to
have done some exploration near Silantek in West Kalimantan,

Jawa has some small coalfields but the total resources are small and coal
production from Jawa is never likely to provide more than a small proportion
of the demand from that island. Sulawesi has larger resources but exploration
there has not been systematic to the same extent as has occurred in
Sumatera and Kalimantan. Interest in coals from Irian Jaya has so far been
small but there may be potential for larger discoveries. However, it is unlikely
that the Irian coalfields will ever rival those of Sumatera or Kalimantan in
terms of overall importance.

in terms of total resources, South Sumatera is the dominant area with about
72% of the total estimated resources for Indonesia. Kalimantan is the second
most important area with 27.5% of the estimated resources relatively evenly
divided between South and East Kalimantan.

9.4.2. BY QUALITY

Typical analyses for some of the major coalfields are given in Table 3. Some
data on ash analyses are included in Table 4.

As noted above, the largest resources are in South Sumatera. Apart from near
the intrusions at Bukit Asam, most of the coals are low in rank (Figure 15).
Ash yields from the South Sumatera coals are moderate to low. Many of the
coals are prone to spontaneous combustion and this increases the difficulties
associated with long distance transport or long term storage of the coals. It is
possible that away from the zone of influence from the intrusions, the regional
rank may prove to be significantly lower than the areas currently the subject of
large scale mining. This may require a long term review of the ways in which
the South Sumatera coals are used.

An indication of the quality differences close to the intrusions is given by the

data in Table 5. Suban mine is close to an intrusion, the other samples are
taken from areas further away from of the metamorphic halo, It is commonly
assumed that Airlaya mine is free from the effects of the intrusion but Figure
15 shows that there may still be some effects from intrusions even in this
area.

Sulphur contents are uniformly low in the South Sumatera coals. They appear
to have been deposited well away from marine influence,

The Ombilin coals are amongst the highest rank coals mined in large
quantities in Indonesia but still fall into the category of non-coking, high
volatile bituminous coals. Although minor amounts of heat altered coals have
been found at Ombilin, it appears that the rank is a result of regional
coalification. Ash yields are typically low although some of the seams contain
a number of dirt bands and washing of the coal is desirable to optimise coal
quality. Sulphur contents are low.

The Eocene coals from Kalimantan have much higher ash yields than most of
the Miocene coals although many of them are still moderate to low by World
standards. The mineral matter typically occurs as thin dirt bands and as finer
disseminations within the coals. Washing of some of the Eocene coals is
desirable but washability characteristics tend to be moderate.

Some of the Eocene coals are high in resinite and this results in unusually
high S.E. values. Most of the coals are low in sulphur but some seams contain
one or more plies that have moderate to high sulphur contents. This appears
to be due to a marine incursion during the the deposition of the coal. Some of
these sulphur rich plies are relatively widespread.
The rank of the Eocene coals is uniformly higher than most Indonesian coals
with vitrinite reflectances typically in the range 0.55% to 0.65% indicating a
rank of high volatile bituminous coal.

The Miocene coals typically contain sections with low to very low ash yields.
One scam, that mined by P.T. Adaro in the region of the Upper Barito River
consistently shows ash Yields less than 1%. As this coal also shows an
exceptionally low sulphur content it has been marketed “Envirocoal". Most of
the Miocene coals, however, contain ash yields in the range from 2 S%, but
lower and higher values occur. It Is common for the Miocene coals to be sold
unwashed and where washing is undertaken, most of the material removed
represents roof or
floor rocks admixed with the coal as a result of mining. A problem with
washing is the higher moisture levels that result.

Spontaneous combustion problems range from low to moderate for the

Miocene coals frorn Kalimantan. For virtually all of the coals mined, care has
to be taken to avoid spontaneous combustion becoming a major problem. A
small number of the coals are rich in resinte and show anomalously high
Specific Energy values.

The coals from Jawa are moderate to low rank and show a moderate to high
ash yield. Many of the coals show the effects of igneous intrusions, These
have produced chars rather than the antracitic coals found in some of the
other coalfields.

The coals from Sulawesi vary markedly in their properties mostly as a result of
contact in trusion. The regional rank for both the Paleogene and the Neogene
coals appears to be bright brown coal or hard lignitic rank. Intrusions raise the
rank levels variously to bituminous and anthracitic rank. It has been noted in
studies of coal type from Sulawesi that these coals to show a much greater
range of type compared with coals from Sumatera and Kalimantan, coals with
sapropelic affinities being more abundant in the suites from Sulawesi.

Breakage behaviour is important especially for coals that are to be used in

pulverised fuel combustion, Some of the Indonesian coals show very low
Hardgrove Grindability indices. This seems to be due to a combination of a
rank level close to the minimum for Hardgrove Grindability and toughness
imparted, in part, by mineral matter and, in part by the presence of liptinite.
Many of the coals show intense shearing of tectonic origin and in most seams,
one of the cleats is very strongly developed, Presumably, if this were not the
case, the coals would show even lower grindability and be difficult to mine.
Low grindability can affect the marketability of coals, However, the Indonesian
coals should be assessed on the rate of burnout during combustion rather
than the ease of grinding. The lack of inertinite in all Indonesian coals,
combined with the presence of liptinite will give rise to an abundance of thin
walled cenospheres during combustion in PF furnace. For this reason, the
burn-out rates of larger particles of Indonesian coals are likely to be greater
than that for similar sized grains of coals from most other potential suppliers.
9.4.3. BY DISTANCE FROM USE/SHIPMENT POINT

Indonesian coal deposits range markedly in their distance from the sea and in
the ease of transport to the sea. Deposits such as Sangatta in East
Kalimantan are within 30 kms of the sea although construction of a
coal-loader on gently shelving coastlines presents some engineering
difficulties. Some of the other coal deposits in East Kalimantan are close to
the Mahakam River and transport by barge is normal. Coal is then loaded
onto other ships off the mouth of the river, or in some cases, the barge
transports coal direct to other islands in Indonesia. The P.T. Adaro mine ships
coal down the Barito River some hundreds of kilometres to the coast and then
East along the coast to a coal loader.

Coal from Senakin and Satul mines in South Kalimantan is taken to a coal
loader near Pulau Laut, mostly for export.

The lower rank coals from Kalimantan are less suitable for transport due to
the high moisture content and high tendency to spontaneous combustion,
Spontaneous combustion could be inhibited by inert gas blanketing and
suitable compaction techniques. However, the coals would always have high
transport costs per unit of energy due to their low Specific Energy and the
amount of water that has to be transported. It is probable that the main use for
these coals will be at mine mouth power stations.

The Sumatera Mines suffer some disadvantages in relation to transport. The

coal from Bukit Asam that is not used near the mines is taken by rail over 200
kms to the loader at Tarahan on the Sunda Strait. From there most of the coal
is taken to Suralaya power station in West Jawa. The Ombilin mines also
suffer disadvantages relative to some mines in Kalimantan in that the coal has
to be transported over the Barisan Range and then down to the loader near
Padang. Although the straight line distance is much smaller than that for the
Bukit Asam coal, the terrain is much more difficult to traverse. The small
mines near Bengkulu are close to the port and have a comparative advantage
for transport.