Mr Concerned Citizen,
Thank you for your thoughtful response. (Some are not so thoughtful).
Yes I was a top 10 holder of KPR, so had done an immense amount of research. At one point I was concerned about what was being advised that I was able to get photographs taken of the loading facility at Tenau Port in 1 day - it is amazing how the internet has allowed ready access to the world. Found a guy based in Darwin who was selling a block of land in Kupang who had relatives who did it for me for a small fee.
KPR were so close to getting the export licence and actually sold some Mn ore in Indonesia but this was after they went into administration. If you go to ASX you can see the KPR announcements - there are a number of presentations showing the artisan supplies of Mn ore - all in 20 litre white bags in a number of villages. There was a phase from memory that the Mn ore was confiscated by the officials (see link below to one presentation).
You need a licence to transport Mn ore in NTT. Lots of red tape.
KPR had a Mn ore processing plant about 800m from the Kupang power plant. Actually processed some Mn ore to submit to authorities in Jakarta.
There have been a quite a few Australian ASX listed companies try to mine and export Mn ore in Kupang, but to no avail.
The problem is there are two types of Mn ore - alluvial which comes in 50 to 100mm layers interspersed with clay. That is the artisan supply - picks and shovel type process when they are not farming.
The other is massive Mn ore which is the big shovel process.
My analysis of the potential export of Mn ore was the most efficient method would be to find a deposit close to the sea and load directly onto a ship and export. The infrastructure is limited and you don't want to transport by trucks as there are numerous villages along all main roads which raises issues of safety, noise etc.
I did a desk top analysis of potential sites on Google Earth and was waiting for KPR to do some hand held XRF readings of those areas I had highlighted. It never eventuated and KPR went into administration.
If you want to learn a little about Kupang and Mn ore go to KPR announcement:
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20130731/pdf/42hdl7s9ldg36r.pdf
The only reason I said that I thought the furnace was a blast furnace is that it is second hand but also contact in Kupang mentioned yesterday he was advised it was a blast furnace. But I have no definite facts on that. Ask GMC.
So while I am not a shareholder in GMC I had a lot of skin in Kupang and lost the lot.
