Prioritise coal mining industry, says chamber

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Chamber of Mines is proposing to the Government to prioritise the development of the coal mining industry to help reduce the country's ever increasing energy costs.

President Datuk Dr Ajib Anuar said Malaysia's coal reserves, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak, were estimated to have an in situ value of 300 million tonnes worth over RM150bil.

The Department of Mineral and Geoscience (DMG) has estimated the country's coal resources at some 1.72 billion tonnes, of which 274 million tonnes were measured, 347 million tonnes indicated and the balance 1.10 billion tonnes inferred.

Currently, about 80% of the country's coal resources are in Sarawak, 19% in Sabah and 1% in Peninsular Malaysia namely Perak, Perlis and Selangor.

Datuk Dr Mohd Ajib Anuar (left) and the Malaysian Chamber of Mines executive director Muhamad Nor Muhamad at the briefing.

“We strongly urge the Government to focus on developing this strategic resource as Malaysia's demand for coal is expected to increase to 19 million tonnes by 2010,” Ajib told reporters after the chamber's AGM yesterday.

He said most of Malaysia's coal requirements for power generation, cement plants as well as iron and steel plants were imported from Indonesia, Australia and China.

Currently, Malaysia's mineral resources, including gold, tin, coal, nickel and bauxite, were estimated at RM235bil, which were still waiting to be tapped.

The Chamber of Mines also wants the Government to zone prospective and highly mineralised areas for the private sector to undertake extensive mineral exploration and mining activities.

“The DMG should be allocated additional funds for this task, apart from the existing RM133.9mil allocated under the Ninth Malaysia Plan,” Ajib added.

He said the chamber also proposed that the mineral industry be designated as a promoted industry and granted double tax deduction on exploration.

He said the Government should allow the expenditure incurred by mining companies undertaking rehabilitation of ex-mining land to be offset against income or revenue generated by companies within the same group.

This was to encourage rehabilitation and preservation of the environment, he added.

Earlier, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas told a luncheon organised by the chamber that the Malaysian Mineral Development Board would soon replace the existing Tin Industry Research and Development Board.

He said the draft Bill for the new board was ready and that consultations with stakeholders had entered the final phase. The Bill will be tabled in Parliament by year-end.

Douglas said the Second National Mineral Policy was also endorsed at the Sixth National Mineral Council Meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.