The company announced that it had started mining at the Haju mine, part of the first stage of the IndoMet Coal project, in the forested Central Kalimantan province in Indonesia. This is the first in a series of planned massive coal mines that would destroy primary rainforest, deprive indigenous peoples of their customary land, and pollute water sources relied on by up to 1 million people. The 7 concessions granted to BHP Billiton lie within the remote and largely undisturbed forests of central Borneo and at least 2 lie within the internationally recognised Heart of Borneo Conservation Area.