JAKARTA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Shipment of Indonesia's concentrate ores overseas have been at standstill since the government's mineral ores export ban came into effect on Jan. 12, official said here on Monday.
The government has required miners who are eligible to export concentrates to obtain recommendation from energy ministry as a pre-requisite to get export approval from trade ministry, according Susilo Siswoutomo, deputy energy minister.
Nevertheless, "As of now there has been no any recommendation from energy ministry submitted to trade ministry," Bachrul Chairi, director general for foreign trade at trade ministry, said at the ministry office on Monday.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono passed a new mineral export ban on Jan. 12 that prohibit exports of concentrates of nickel, bauxite, tin, chromium, gold and silver.
But the government still allowed exportation of concentrates of copper, lead, zinc, iron ore and manganese after the ban, but they are subject to punitive progressive export tax by 2017.
The Southeast Asia's largest economy has vast array of natural resources. Hence, the country is known as world's biggest exporter of nickel ore, thermal coal and refined tin, and home to the world second-largest copper mine.
The government aims at tapping more earnings from the mining sector by adding values of raw mining products domestically.
