The area of Tujuh Bukit, once known as one of the world's best undeveloped gold and copper sites, was first developed by Australian Intrepid Mines Ltd in cooperation with its Indonesian partner Indo Multi Niaga (IMN), which holds the license to mine the area. However, Intrepid was then locked out of the USD $5 billion project after IMN transferred the ownership of Intrepid's 80 percent shareholding to Bumi Sukses Indo (BSI). This case went to court and eventually a settlement was reached in which Intrepid Mines received a 22 percent stake in a new holding company (Merdeka Serasi Jaya), which was then sold to Singapore-based Kendall Court for USD $80 million.

For Intrepid this was a relatively good outcome, but the case does hurt assessment of Indonesia's investment climate as it highlights persistent legal uncertainty in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Bahas