Jakarta, Indonesia – The Attorney General’s Office of Indonesia has pinpointed a past high-ranking official within the nation’s mining department as potentially involved in a probe regarding unlawful operations in tin mining. This past Wednesday, it was made public that former mining ministry authority Bambang Gatot Ariyono is under suspicion for partaking in activities beyond legal boundaries.
Investigations are focused on what appears to be collaboration between PT Timah, the state-owned tin enterprise and the fifth-largest global producer of refined tin, and sham miners. These illicit miners seemingly extracted tin from PT Timah’s sites and then sold it back to them.
Bambang, who once oversaw the department of minerals and coal, is believed to have improperly increased a miner’s production quota in 2019, which doubled the allowed output. This action is suspected to be in direct connection with the unlawful mining operations. When contacted, Bambang did not provide immediate comments.
Indonesia’s Attorney General, Sanitiar Burhanuddin, announced that these unauthorized activities have caused considerable financial harm to the state, amounting to billions of dollars, not to mention the accompanying environmental degradation.
To date, the probe has implicated 22 individuals, spanning from 2015 to 2022. Among the accused are Timah’s former CEO and finance director, in addition to executives from other tin mining corporations.
Indonesia, recognized for being a major global tin supplier, has faced several disruptions in its tin exports. These interruptions have frequently occurred due to government policies tightening controls over production and exports. Last year, the country’s refined tin exports totalled 78,000 metric tons, roughly equivalent to a fifth of the worldwide demand.
