By Andrew Jones

April 5, 2024 - Singapore-listed trading and shipping services firm Resources Global Development (RGD) has agreed to buy a stake in a coal mine in Indonesia's central Kalimantan with reserves of 64mn t.

The acquisition will be RGD's fifth Indonesian mine, as the company continues to diversify into coal mining. The acquisition, which is expected to be completed within the next three months, will take RGD's proved and probable coal reserves to 226mn t, RGD said.

The 174bn rupiah ($11mn) deal sees RGD buying a 58pc stake in Indonesian company Deli Pratama Batubara, which in turn owns a 75pc stake in Perdana Karya Perkasa that indirectly owns 70pc in the mine's owner Tri Oetama Persada (Triop).

The latest move follows RGD's acquisition of Indonesian mining company Batubara Development in January this year, which has interests in four coal mines in central Kalimantan. These mines have total estimated proved and probable coal reserves of 162mn t.

"The acquisition of a strategic stake in Triop will bolster our efforts in establishing RGD's second growth engine, coal handling, which will involve both coal mining and coal trading," the company said. "The mine is situated next to the four coal mines owned by Batubara Development and this will enable us to leverage economies of scale and extract greater synergies when production commences progressively at these five coal mines, starting from end 2024, subject to external conditions," it added.