PT Agincourt Resources (PTAR) has long been known as a company that successfully operates a gold mine accountably and sustainably. Many programs from PT Agincourt Resources (PTAR) are held to “restore” nature and community. Not only does PTAR build the physical infrastructures, but it also develops people to improve the competitiveness of the young generation around the mine and throughout Indonesia.
PTAR wants to participate in the effort to create a high-achieving young generation who will support the sustainable mining concept to build the homeland of Indonesia.
Thus, on 17 December 2022, PTAR cooperated with the Indonesian Society of Economic Geologists to launch the OlympiAR at the School of Business and Management (SBM) Hall of Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Bandung, West Java. The OlympiAR is an abbreviation of the Olympiad of Agincourt Resources.
The Vice President Director of PTAR, Ruli Tanio, said that the purpose is to create a high-achieving young generation who will work in the mining field with the sustainable and environmentally friendly mining concept.
“We continue to apply sustainable mining practices that do not only give benefits for our stakeholders but also apply environmentally sound and socially responsible mining that can meet current needs.” He said during an interview with journalists at the event launching and was accompanied by the Senior Manager of Corporate Communication of PTAR, Katarina Siburian Hardono.
The opening ceremony was followed by a quite important session, namely a presentation on the briefing of the mining commencement plan, feasibility study, and mining process, to postmining by expert speakers from PTAR, namely the Principal Geologist-Mine Geology, Janjan Hertrijana, Manager Environmental, Mahmud Subagya, and Superintendent Strategic Mine Planning, Bonni Simanjuntak. The presentation sessions ended with a question-and-answer session and attractive prizes.
The classroom at SBM ITB at the time was crowded with around 200 university students from various universities in West Java, namely ITB, Universitas Padjadjaran, Universitas Papua, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Pertamina, Universitas Pakuan, Universitas Trisakti, Politeknik Energi dan Pertambangan Bandung, and Universitas Islam Bandung. They enthusiastically attended and participated in the event launching and the OlympiAR roadshow because the presentations delivered were very related to their studies.
The Senior Manager of Corporate Communications of PTAR, Katarina Siburian Hardono, explained that the Olympiar participants have the opportunity to win various prizes as worthy as tens of million rupiahs. The first winner will be granted a prize of 50 million rupiahs, and an internship program at Martabe gold mine with full coverage from PTAR.
“In addition to spreading the spirit of sustainable mining of Martabe Gold Mine, the OlympiAR aims to assist university students to develop their competence, readiness, and confidence to enter the workforce and pursue a career in the mining industry,” explained Bu Kati, Katarina’s nickname.
Previously, the first roadshow was held at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, 3 December 2022, attended by around 200 university students from 7 universities in Central and East Java. The OlympiAR will be held for the next 3 months with the registration schedule in December 2022, followed by a Workshop and the first round of Elimination in January 2023, the Second Elimination Round in February 2023, ended with the final round, and the winners announcement in March 2023.
Ruli explained that from the mining operational activities until now, the main purposes of the environmental management at Martabe Gold Mine do not change. These purposes include the activities of rehabilitation, safe tailings and waste rock management, safe wastewater management, greenhouse gas emissions management and reduction, biodiversity protection, and safe and stable postmining closure.
A number of real actions is conducted, one of which was planting more than 41,000 seedlings inside and outside the mine area from 2012 to 2021, which has the potential to produce 18 million kilograms of oxygen per year and can absorb approximately 1 million tonnes of carbon gas per year. In addition, in 2021 PTAR reclaimed land up to 36.22 hectares, including the operational area and exploration area. Furthermore, more than 3,000 seedlings were planted in the rehabilitation area. This rehabilitation achievement exceeded the 2017-2021 PTAR Reclamation Plan that was approved by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
PTAR has also run a program towards net-zero emission by installing solar panels on all building roofs inside the mine environment. PTAR even established an environment department that is in charge to manage clean and safe waste, environment, revegetation, biodiversity, and training on the environment to the community.
The Head of Major (Kaprodi) of Mining Engineering at ITB, Dr Eng. Fadhila Achmadi Rasyid, representing the Rector of ITB, appreciated PTAR’s initiatives of the OlympiAR for raising the sustainable topic that has long been a significant issue in the mining sector. According to Fadhila, sustainability in the mining sector not only ensure the management of valuable and beneficial mining deposits for life sustainability but also gives contribution to the country and development, while still prioritizing the environmental and social management aspects.
The OlympiAR is part of E-Coaching Jam (ECJ), a community service from PTAR, namely online discussion between university students and coaches, complete with webinars and offline meetings, as a medium to share practical knowledge with university students. Since its first event in 2014 until now, ECJ has bridged discussions among more than 45 mining experts and more than 3,500 university students in Indonesia, among others ITB Bandung, ITM Medan, UGM, UNDIP, UPN Yogyakarta, UNSYIAH ACEH, UNISBA Bandung, UNSRI Palembang, and Universitas Muhammadyah Tapanuli Selatan.
In November 2022, PTAR President Director, Muliady Sutio accompanied by the Senior Manager of Corporate Communications of PTAR, Katarina Siburian Hardono, received several award categories in the event of the 2022 Indonesian Sustainable Development Goals Award (ISDA) held at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Kuningan, November 2022 and one of the categories that won the awards is E-Coaching Jam from PTAR. PTAR has long contributed to the effort to improve the Human Development Index in Indonesia by building, facilitating, and donating various facilities and infrastructures of education, health, and training to the directly affected community.
