Energy Ministry Confirms Research Professor of Marine Geology

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 037.Pers/04/SJI/2021

Date: 26 January 2021

Energy Ministry Confirms Research Professor of Marine Geology

The search for marine resources must exert a minimum impact on the environment, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR), Arifin Tasrif, has said at the confirmation ceremony of Research Professorship of Marine Geology for Hananto Kurnio, a Senior Researcher of the Marine Geology R&D Center (P3GL) of the EMR Research and Development Agency. The ceremony was held online in Bandung (26/1).

"With tougher enforcement of environmental regulations, marine geology research must focus on the search for marine resources with high economic value and commercial exploitation with a minimum impact on the environment," said Arifin.

Arifin underlined that the development of non-biological marine resources is part of the Indonesian Ocean Policy set out in Presidential Regulation Number 16 of 2017.

"The research and development of marine minerals is a solution to the problem of land mineral mining, which will deplete someday. I hope the R&D results can be implemented and can provide real added value to the people", continued Arifin.

Meanwhile, Acting Head of R&D Agency, Dadan Kusdiana, explained that Hananto is the 24th research professor of a total of 222 researchers in the Ministry of EMR. The EMR R&D Agency now has four research professors with an active status. The other three professors are Bambang Widharsono (PPPTMGB LEMIGAS), Siti Rohani and Datin Fatia Umar (Puslitbang Tekmira).

Hananto presented a scientific paper titled "Indication, Potential, and Prospects of Marine Mineral Resources" before the Research Professor Confirmation Council of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

The awardee of the 2013 Energy Award explained that according to P3GL research, Indonesia seas are rich in minerals, but only a few minerals have complete indication, potential, and prospect. These minerals include iron sand, offshore construction materials, gold sediments, seabed sulfides, and rare earth elements. Marine minerals that are feasible to develop are found in the shallow seas of western Indonesia, namely the Sunda Shelf, with an average sea depth of below 100 meters.

Hananto, who once held the office of Coordinator of Research and Development Program (KP3) of Marine Geology Mapping of the P3GL, said that P3GL research results have been used by other interested parties, for example, research on iron sand in the waters of East Lombok and the utilization of sediment distribution map on a scale of 1:250,000 by sea sand businesses.

P3GL has also successfully identified a gold resource of 5.6 tonne in Semangko Bay, Lampung Province. This research certainly brings implications for local revenues and investment opportunities.

Morevor, P3GL research on submarine volcanoes shows that fumaroles are rare earths-carrying agents. The conclusion is confirmed with the high level of rare earths in the sediments near the volcanoes and fumarole traces found in inactive mounds formed by the seismic activities.

Hananto is the 24th research professor in Ministry of EMR and the 589th in Indonesia. A father of three children, Hananto has written 85 scientific papers in books, journals, and proceedings. As many as 58 papers were written in Indonesian language and 27 in English. Hananto has also written a number of scientific papers for international meetings in Thailand (1999), Germany (2015 and 2019), the Philippines (2017). The member of professional associations Indonesian Association of Geologists (IAGI), Indonesian Association for Oceanologists (ISOI), and Indonesian Researchers Association (Himpenindo), Hananto is also active in the training of scientific experts, such as being a thesis (S1) supervisor at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Universitas Jenderal Sudirman Purwokerto, Universitas Padjadjaran, and Institut Teknologi Bandung as well as thesis (S2) advisor at Universitas Pertahanan Nasional. (IY)

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