The reality is that Indonesia’s mineral and coal potential is not well explored and huge potential still awaits discovery. To predict what is the likely next phase of the Indonesian coal industry will be like its best to look at how the Indonesian coal industry has developed in the past.

As a geologist with years of 35 years of mining consultant experience in Indonesia, Daniel Madre strives to continuously share his perspective on the mineral potential in the region and how to optimize its drilling and exploration.

The distribution of coal deposits in Sumatra, Indonesia, is controlled by the tectonic setting of collision between the Australian plate and the Eurasian plate. Relatively older, high grade coal is found on both sides of the Barisan Mountains in the foothills. These deposits have potential for bituminous and metallurgical coal. Relatively younger, lower grades of coal occur on both sides of the Barisan Mountains as well. These deposits are located further away from the mountain uplift, in sedimentary basins where stable conditions have resulted in thick accumulations of coal.