THE conference room on the fifth floor of the Directorate General of Mineral, Coal, & Geothermal Resources on Jalan Supomo in South Jakarta was the scene on Thursday last week of a heated exchange between West Nusa Tenggara Governor, Muhammad Zainul Madjdi, and Aneka Tambang (Antam) Chief Executive Officer, Alwin Syah Loebis, on the planned purchase of 14 percent of Newmont Nusa Tenggara shares.

Also involved in the exchange with Zainul was Dire