Jakarta. Sovereign wealth fund Danantara said Friday that the newly established state company Perminas would focus on rare earths, and that its business nature would not overlap with that of MIND ID.

The name Perminas — short for Perusahaan Mineral Nasional — has been making headlines after Danantara’s senior official Dony Oskaria revealed its takeover of the Martabe gold mine. But Perminas’ establishment, coupled with the lack of information on the company, sparked questions, as Indonesia already has MIND ID. This state-run mining holding has five subsidiaries: nickel and gold miner Antam; coal firm Bukit Asam; gold and copper giant Freeport; aluminum smelting company Inalum; tin producer Timah. 

“MIND ID is a holding company, but its subsidiaries oversee different types of businesses. Antam deals with nickel and gold. Perminas is meant for rare earths. Every company has its own specialty,” Danantara Chief Executive Officer Rosan Roeslani told reporters in his office.

Asked about Perminas’ Martabe takeover, Rosan only said: “We will just wait.”

Perminas to date does not have an official website. Gilarsi Wahju Setijono — who presides over the electric vehicle company VKTR — is at the helm of Perminas. The company came into existence on Nov. 25, 2025. Rare earth elements are a group of 17 special metals used in various high-tech applications such as smartphones. 

Rosan’s comments were in stark contrast to Dony’s frankness on Perminas’ involvement. The latter affirmed Wednesday that Perminas would manage Martabe — one of the world’s largest gold mines run by conglomerate Astra International’s Agincourt Resources. But he claimed it was not Danantara’s job to do the talking with Astra. Dony claimed he “could not respond” to the question of possible compensation and the timeline.

Agincourt Resources was one of the 28 companies that had its permits revoked after the government accused its operations of having caused the deadly Sumatra disaster. The Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) is encouraging the government to make a fair assessment of Agincourt Resources, saying that the firm has embraced good operational and environmental practices. 

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi admitted that Danantara was following President Prabowo Subianto’s order to establish Perminas. Indonesia hopes to keep the local economic activities alive — that’s why it did not take long for the government to unveil Danantara’s involvement since the 28 companies got stripped of their licenses.

“The economic activities [in those lands] are pivotal for our country’s interests and job creation. So why don’t we resume the operations? … But even if it is managed by a state company, they still have to improve the governance,” Prasetyo said.

Martabe lies in South Tapanuli, North Sumatra. The open-pit mine processes over 6 million tons of ore each year. Its annual output includes more than 200,000 ounces of gold and 1-2 million ounces of silver.

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