Indonesia Revokes Gold Mine, Plantation Permits After Floods

Indonesia will revoke permits held by 28 resource companies, including one of the country’s largest gold miners, after authorities linked their alleged forest misuse to floods that killed more than a thousand people in Sumatra in December.

The permits span a wide range of land uses — like logging, pulpwood plantations, mining and hydropower — and cover more than a million hectares, according to a government presentation on Tuesday. The companies were found to have violated laws governing activities in forest areas, State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi told reporters.