Bumi Resources Minerals Says Palu Operations Unaffected by Site Closure

Why It Matters

The closure underscores regulatory risk management while the mill upgrade positions BRM to capture higher production volumes, strengthening its market standing.

Key Takeaways

• BRM's Palu site closure does not affect production.
• Targeted area was never operational, per CPM statement.
• Gold mill capacity expanding to 2,000 tonnes/day by Oct.
• Expansion aims to boost gold output and fundamentals.
• Government enforcement focused on illegal land clearing activities.

Pulse Analysis

Indonesia’s mining sector faces heightened scrutiny as environmental agencies clamp down on illegal activities, a trend exemplified by the recent sealing of a non‑operational gold site in Palu. While the Forestry Ministry’s task force acted to protect forest integrity, the move highlights the delicate balance miners must strike between expansion ambitions and compliance. For investors, such regulatory interventions signal both risk and the importance of transparent concession management, especially in regions where community and ecological concerns intersect with resource extraction.

Bumi Resources Minerals is leveraging this moment to showcase operational resilience. By emphasizing that the sealed area was never in production, BRM reassures stakeholders that its cash‑flow generating assets remain untouched. Simultaneously, the company’s aggressive upgrade of the CPM‑run gold mill—from 500 to 2,000 tonnes of ore per day—demonstrates a strategic focus on scaling existing, compliant operations rather than pursuing new, potentially contentious projects. This capacity boost, slated for October, is expected to lift annual gold output substantially, reinforcing BRM’s balance sheet and positioning it favorably against peers.

The broader market implications are notable. As Indonesia tightens enforcement, miners with clear, operational assets and robust expansion plans, like BRM, are likely to attract capital seeking stable returns in a volatile commodity environment. The mill expansion not only augments production but also improves cost efficiencies, potentially lowering the all‑in sustaining cost per ounce. Consequently, BRM’s ability to navigate regulatory pressures while scaling output could set a benchmark for responsible growth in the Southeast Asian mining landscape.

Bumi Resources Minerals says Palu operations unaffected by site closure

By Divya Karyza (The Jakarta Post) · Wednesday, 18 February 2026

The publicly listed miner, while confirming the closure of a site within subsidiary CPM's forest concession over illegal land clearing, has underlined that the targeted area was not operational and so will not affect its overall operations.

Forest rangers seal off the entrance to an illegal gold mine on 20 Nov 2025, during an operation under the Forestry Ministry’s civil service investigator (PPNS) at Mount Halimun Salak National Park in Sukabumi regency, West Java. (kompas.com/Riki Achmad Saepulloh)

T Bumi Resources Minerals (BRM) says the government’s closure of a contested gold mine at its concession in Palu, Central Sulawesi, will not disrupt core production activities, as the site in question was not yet operational.

The publicly listed miner said in a statement on Monday that the forest‑area enforcement task force (Satgas PKH) had sealed off a location within a contract‑of‑work area managed by its subsidiary, Citra Palu Minerals (CPM).

The Satgas PKH team moved to seal the site after discovering that illegal miners had cleared land in the concession area.

“The River Reef gold mine in Poboya, Palu, which is currently operated by CPM using the open‑pit mining method, continues to operate as usual,” BRM management stated, as quoted by Kontan.co.id.

BRM underscored that although the area targeted by the task force lay within its concession, CPM had neither developed nor mined it to date, so its closure was not expected to impact the company’s primary operations.

The miner is currently ramping up the capacity of a CPM‑run gold mill to 2,000 tonnes of ore per day from 500 tonnes previously and is on track for completion by October.

It is expected to substantially boost the company’s gold output this year to “strengthen the firm’s operational fundamentals amid the evolving dynamics of the national gold‑mining industry,” according to BRM’s statement.