TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Colorado-based Newmont Mining and partner Sumitomo Corporation have completed the sale of 10% in their Batu Hijau copper/gold mine, in Indonesia.

Newmont's ownership in PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PTNNT), which owns the Batu Hijau mine has now been reduced from 45% to 39,38%.

The foreign owners agreed in a 1986 contract of work to sell a total of 51% of the project to local Indonesian entities in stages, over an agreed timeframe.

The recent sale included the 3% that should have been divested in 2006 and 7% for 2007. The stake was acquired by a consortium made up of regional and local governments near the Batu Hijau mine and PT Multicapital, a private company.

Newmont said that it had agreed with the Indonesian government to extend the deadline for the sale and transfer of the 2008 and 2009 divestiture shares (7% each) until November 23, to give the government more time to designate a buyer.

On March 30, an international arbitration panel ruled that Newmont and its partner in the giant copper/gold mine, a subsidiary of Japan's Sumitomo Corp, must complete the overdue divestitures within 180 days, and that deadline was later extended by mutual agreement to November 12, to coincide with the deadline for the 2009 divestiture.

In extending the deadline once more last week, the government acknowledged that the mine's owners have fulfilled their obligations under the contract of work under the contract of work and the arbitration decision, Newmont said.

The company received its share of the proceeds from the 10% stake sale - $391-million – on Monday, it said in a statement.

"We appreciate the government's ongoing assistance, and PTNNT and its foreign shareholders will continue working in good faith to complete the divestiture process," said Newmont executive vice-president for legal and external affairs Alan Blank.

"We stand ready to sell and transfer the 2008 and 2009 divestiture shares to the government or its designee by November 23.”

The 10% share transfer results in a pretax gain of around $100-million that will be carried as an increase to equity in Newmont's consolidated balance sheet, the company said.

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