Nickel Reserves and Mining Quotas in Indonesia's 5 Main Producing Provinces 2024

According to data from the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), there are five main nickel-producing provinces in Indonesia in 2024.

These provinces are North Maluku, Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, and West Papua.

All these provinces have nickel reserves, with North Maluku Province estimated to have the largest nickel reserves, up to 1.9 billion wet metric tons (WMT).

However, in mining, nickel ore production is regulated by quotas in the form of a work plan and budget (RKAB) issued with the approval of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM).

“Through the RKAB instrument, the government seeks to adjust the volume of mine production to the needs of smelters,” Bappenas wrote in the Decarbonization Roadmap for Indonesia's Nickel Industry.

“So that there is no overproduction and misappropriation in the sale of nickel ore,” it added.

Here are the details of nickel ore reserves and RKAB/mining quotas in Indonesia's five main nickel-producing provinces in 2024:

North Maluku

• Reserves: 1.9 billion WMT
• RKAB/quota: 63.4 million WMT

Southeast Sulawesi

• Reserves: 1.7 billion WMT
• RKAB/quota: 92.9 million WMT

Central Sulawesi

• Reserves: 800 million WMT
• RKAB/quota: 42.7 million WMT

South Sulawesi

• Reserves: 600 million WMT
• RKAB/quota: 17.7 million WMT

West Papua

• Reserves: 100 million WMT
• RKAB/quota: 4.3 million WMT