PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) has reported its exploration activities for the fourth quarter (October-December 2024). The exploration was conducted by PTBA's internal team in collaboration with a third party, a mining services contractor.

Corporate Secretary of PTBA, Niko Chandra, explained that the exploration took place in the Tanjung Enim area using coring, open hole, and geophysical logging methods. The activity involved Sucofindo and incurred a cost of IDR 21.69 billion.

The exploration focused on the Air Laya and Banko Tengah B areas, resulting in 59 drilling points with a total of 11,204 meters of infill drilling at active mines, as well as additional drilling to expand the exploration coverage with 54 drilling points totaling 10,658 meters.

Additionally, coal and rock sampling produced 1,707 coal samples for quality analysis, 299 core samples for rock acidity testing, and 565 samples for rock mechanics testing.

Other activities included monitoring the ToCBoC Front of the mine at various locations, such as Muara Tiga Besar, Air Laya, Banko Barat, Banko Tengah A, and Banko Tengah B.

Additional costs were allocated for database management, software licenses, and other operational activities.

In another area, PTBA’s subsidiary also explored PT Internasional Prima Coal’s (IPC) mine. The exploration was carried out by PT Prasetya Abdi Perkasa using coring and open hole methods.

The result was 34 drilling points with a total length of 2,248 meters (579 meters of coring and 1,669 meters of open hole), with a total cost of IDR 2.4 billion.

Niko Chandra added that the exploration in Tanjung Enim will continue into 2025. Meanwhile, in the IPC area, the focus will shift to updating geological models and preparing geotechnical study reports.