Johannesburg – South Africa – November 2010 - PT AEL Indonesia, part of the international AEL Mining Services group, secured its position as a major global explosives company with 6 new projects fully operational in country. Each project contract term is 5 years and entails the supply of explosives and initiating systems, as well as the provision of Down-The-Hole (DTH) or Prime, Load, Tie and Shoot (PLTS) services.

“In line with AEL Mining Services’ growth strategy, the company’s footprint expanded into Indonesia in 2008.  Today we are providing explosives and value adding services to six customers.  Each of the sites will manufacture emulsion using on-site bulk emulsion manufacturing plants,” said Colin Wilson, AEL Mining Services’ International Business director.

AEL Indonesia’s contracts include PT. Thiess Contractors (TCI) at Melak Mine, PT. Bukit Makmur (BUMA) at Gunungbayan Pratamacoal (GBP), PT. Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), PT. Petrosea at GBP, PT. Leighton Contractors Indonesia (LCI) at Mahakam Sumber Jaya (MSJ) and PT. Petrosea at Santan Batubara.

“AEL Indonesia’s growth since October 2009 is unprecedented in the explosives industry and is attributed to the strong team we have in Indonesia supported by the Business Services Group in South Africa.  With key names and contracts on our books, we have high levels of service delivery to maintain to our customers.  It is through collaboration and strong partnerships that we can gain and sustain success in this region,” added Wilson.

According to Patrick Foo, executive president of AEL Asia Pacific, AEL Indonesia was contracted to service TCI at Melak Coal Mine and provide a full PLTS service and it is expected that over the contract period, a total of 35,000mt of bulk explosives will be delivered into blastholes at Melak.

“At GBP,” he added, “a 20mt Mobile Manufacturing Unit (MMU) assisted by a rapid reload unit, delivers AEL Mining Services’ bulk explosives in a DTH service to BUMA.  Approximately 45,000mt of bulk explosives are expected to be delivered over a five year period.”

KPC, Indonesia’s world class producer of high quality thermal coal from one of the world’s largest open pit mining operations, awarded AEL Indonesia a five year contract to service approximately 50% of its blasting requirements.  Over the contract period, AEL Indonesia will deliver an estimated 445,000mt of explosives to the three mining contractors operating at KPC.

“Operations have commenced with ANFO blasting at Petrosea at Santan Batubara.AEL Mining Services’ first 10mt bulk emulsion plant will be commissioned by the end of 2010 and a 12mt MMU will deliver SD130 bulk emulsion into blastholes.  Adjacent to the Santan Batubara operation, AEL Indonesia services LCI’s requirements in a DTH  contract at MSJ’s Block D and E. Contracted volumes for this project total around 78,000mt.” said Foo.

Thiess and Leighton Contractors are the largest mining and civil contractors respectively globally. BUMA is Indonesia’s second largest coal mining contractor and Petrosea is an integrated multi discipline industrial company with operating coal mines, marine engineering & civil & construction contracts and long term coal mining contracts.

Foo commented on the group’s achievements in this region, “AEL Indonesia’s unrelenting focus on understanding and meeting the needs of its customers and partners in the region have been key elements driving our success.”

He mentioned that the critical success factors in capturing a strong foothold in Asia Pacific are fast mobilisation time, skilled and experienced personnel, as well as progressive and proactive engineering and operations.

“Other key factors are security of supply, flexibility in collaborating with several licenced explosives companies, and experience in the workings of explosives permits in the highly regulated Indonesian explosives’ industry. Critical to our success is our dedicated in-country Supply Chain team, coupled with specialist resources, world class service and commitment to continuous improvement. Our drive to remain cost effective and innovative plays a significant role in meeting the demands of our customer base in the region.”

According to Foo, the explosives industry in Indonesia has seen the introduction of a technologically advanced, customer focused mining services providerwith leading bulk explosives technologies and value adding technical services, which have resulted in a competitive market.

"The need for all key stakeholders to understand the goals, commit to the project, deliver results and to communicate effectively is critical in ensuring accountability and success,” concluded Foo.

Celebrating a Milestone

To cap off the year of extraordinary growth, AEL Indonesia recently celebrated the anniversary of operations at KPC as well as the opening of the new AEL Indonesia office at the KPC site. The opening ceremony was attended by the AEL Indonesia team and esteemed guests, including the senior Executives of KPC and Bumi Resources as well as Colin Wilson, International Business Director for AEL Mining Services.

For more information, please contact Ivy Chamboko
Group Marketing & Communications Manager, Tel: +27 11 606 0550
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PT AEL Indonesia: Sean Rodger / Patrick Foo, Tel: +6221 7592 4498

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