Batangtoru, 28 July 2023 – PT Agincourt Resources (PTAR) supports the Indonesian government in pursuing the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It has been proven that the operator of the Martabe Gold Mine has absorbed up to 19,939 tonnes of CO2e from carbon plantations trees and succeeded in reducing emissions of 14,181 tons of CO2 from the use of renewable energy electricity.
PTAR General Manager Operations, Rahmat Lubis, said PTAR has and will continue to carry out various strategies to pursue industrial decarbonization to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In accordance with the Enhanced NDC, Indonesia’s GHG emission reduction target is 31.89% with its own capabilities and 43.2% with international support.
From 2012 to June 2023 PTAR has planted 85,423 plants in reclamation areas and plants in natural forest areas. Meanwhile, currently more than 5,000 local plant seeds are being grown in a nursery located within the mine area. The plant seeds are used to assist post-mining land rehabilitation programs and to significantly increase the number of plant species and seedling growth rates in support of reclamation activities.
Meanwhile, in the field of new and renewable energy, PTAR has diverted some of its electricity usage from fossil power plants to renewable energy power plants. This is represented by the renewable energy certificate (REC) issued by PLN. Throughout the semester I/2023 PTAR has used 16,300 REC Units or the equivalent of 16,300 MWH of electricity.
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“Climate change is a big threat to our lives, one of the causes is triggered by GHG emissions. The various programs and initiatives that we have carried out are concrete evidence of the Martabe Gold Mine’s commitment to reducing GHG emissions and supporting NDC,” said Rahmat.
This was raised in the 2023 World Environment Day National Seminar entitled “Implementation and Strategy for Implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for Business Actors” which was held by PTAR in Padang Sidempuan on 20 July 2023.
The seminar presented two speakers, namely the Executive Director of the Belantara Foundation Dolly Priatna and the Head of Sub-Directorate for Climate Change Resource Support of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Dr. Wawan Gunawan, S.Hut., M.Sc. Around 250 people from business actors, government employees, and university students attended the seminar, both offline and online.
As a mining business actor that is also committed to reducing emissions, PTAR has used an environmentally friendly Komatsu HB365-1 excavator. The heavy equipment with hybrid technology from PT United Tractors Tbk. and Komatsu is claimed to be able to reduce fuel consumption by up to 17% and reduce exhaust gas emissions by up to 13 kg per hour.
“In addition, we have operated solar panels with a capacity of 2.1 MWP in the Martabe Gold Mine area. We also use processing equipment in the form of a Sleep Energy Recovery (SER) Installation which aims to regenerate power so that it can be re-used, with an energy saving potential of 6.49% per month,” said Rahmat.
In his speech at the National Seminar, Director of Engineering and Environment for Mineral and Coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Sunindyo Suryo Herdadi, expressed his appreciation for PTAR’s initiative to reduce carbon emissions. The government itself has prepared comprehensive policies and strategies, especially in the utilization of new and renewable energy (EBT), reduction of fossil energy, and the use of electricity-based environmentally friendly transportation.
“It is important for us to see how mining companies follow these GHG emission reduction action guidelines. PTAR itself already has a strategy in order to reduce emissions as a form of active participation of business actors in achieving the national targets,” said Sunindyo.
The 2023 World Environment Day National Seminar held by PTAR is part of a series of PTAR 2023 Environment Day commemoration events with the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution – Solution for Plastic Pollution”. PTAR believes theseminar is one of the efforts to educate and build awareness of other business actors and the public in mitigating climate change.
