FIVE years after Law No. 4/2009 on Mining was enacted, related industries are still trying to reconcile with the consequent changes. Mining operators had relied on and abided by the 1967 Mining law, enacted during Suharto’s more than 30-year administration. Admittedly, it was a far more generous piece of legislation than the current one, which allowed investors and the industry a lot of leeway. However, taking their cue from the Constitution—which defines everything exploited from the earth as belonging to the state—the legislators set out to change rules and regulations aimed at ending the country’s ‘resource curse’ and bring more benefi ts to the people. The result, as featured in the following special mining report, has been confusion, uncertainty and many questions.