Youth Mining Camp Competition (YMCC) 2021 is the fourth YMCC that has been organized by HMTA UPNYK. YMCC 2021 activities consist of four main activities, namely Society Project, Virtual Fair, six competition competitions, and a series of Indonesian Mining and Energy Summit (IMES) activities. Meanwhile, five competitions were held on a national scale and one competition was held on an international scale in the form of Infographic Competition, Essay competition, Youthech, International Student Paper Competition (ISPC), Debate Competition, and Mine Plan Design Competition (MPDC). The total number of registered participants was 151 teams from more than 40 universities.

The Rector of UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta, Dr. Drs. Mohamad Irhas Effendi, M.S., and the Dean of the Faculty of Mineral Technology of UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta, Dr. Ir. Sutarto, M.T., fully support all student activities both academically and non-academically, in order to realize the achievement of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education. In his speech, Mr. Irhas said “Through innovations from students, we believe that the Covid-19 pandemic does not make an excuse for UPN ”Veteran" Yogyakarta to continue to carry out the Tri Dharma of Higher Education. This can be seen from the activities carried out by the Mining Engineering Student Association (HMTA) through the Youth Mining Camp Competition". At the closing ceremony of YMCC 2021, IMES was held with the theme “Nickel Downstreaming to Support the Domestic Battery Industry”.

The keynote speaker at this event was the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenkomarves) of the Republic of Indonesia, General TNI (Ret.) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. On this occasion, Mr. Luhut conveyed a message to young people, especially students, to become the next generation who have character and are loyal to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). The increase in COVID-19 cases also requires young people to be disciplined and have awareness of the implementation of health protocols. At this closing ceremony, Mr. Luhut also conveyed the progress of mineral downstreaming in Indonesia, especially on nickel and bauxite. "The focus of the government program at the Ministry is infrastructure development, downstreaming of natural resources, Lithium Battery development, reducing carbon emissions, and the health sector. As for the implementation of reducing carbon emissions, 70-80% of the world's carbon credits are in Indonesia."

Based on the downstream strategy, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) can be established according to investor demand. Currently, there are seven nickel and bauxite industrial zones, including Obi Island, Bintan Island, Tanah Kuning and Morowali. Mr. Luhut said “The world's largest High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) battery technology is on Obi Island utilizing limonite containing low grade nickel to produce the new NMC-811 battery technology”. The existence of this downstream shows an increase in steel exports and is now the 3rd largest export commodity in Indonesia and second only to coal. Mr. Luhut added that the future target is to create a timeline in the integration of natural resources to create electric cars and then superconductors. in addition, green energy is created with Hydrogen Ammonia to replace lithium batteries or other energy. Mr. Luhut also emphasized that policies must be made for the next generations, not only considering the current generation and must be implemented optimally so that it can produce maximum achievements.

IMES at the 2021 YMCC closing ceremony also presented 4 speakers at a discussion session with a discussion on the technicalities of nickel downstream activities which was hosted by Mr. Oktarian Wisnu Lusantono. The speakers present were Mr. Sugeng Mujiyanto as Director of Mineral Business Development-Ditjen Minerba, Mr. Alan Matanos as Manager of Mineral Resources Assessment-Harita Nickel Group, Mr. Agus Wahyudi from the Mineral and Coal Technology Research and Development Center, and Ms. Meidy Katrin Lengkey as General Secretary of the Indonesian Nickel Mining Association / Investment Committee of the Republic of Indonesia. Muhammad Adam Gana, as the Chief Executive of YMCC 2021 added, "In addition to the competition event and national webinar, YMCC 2021 also organizes a Society Project which is a form of practicing the Tri Dharma of Higher Education.

The activities carried out include: Branding of Sokoliman Tourism Village (January 23, 2021); Earthquake disaster relief in Mamuju, West Sulawesi (February 4, 2021); Planting 100 buffer trees, vegetable, fruit and family medicine plant nurseries (April 10, 2021); and Making Irrigation Installations for agricultural land in Sokoliman 2 Hamlet, Bejiharjo Village, Gunung Kidul Regency, DIY (June 5, 2021). There is also a virtual fair event, which is a company expo participated by various mining companies in Indonesia, there are also Booths of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta, Mining Alumni Association, Mining Engineering Student Association, and YMCC 2021 Booth which we virtually hold through Interactive Booth which you can access through www.ymcc.hmtaupnyk. Since the Virtual Fair was officially opened on June 12 until today, June 26, 2021, the 2021 YMCC Virtual Fair has been visited more than 13,185 times, and not only in the form of an Interactive Booth, but we have also held 6 Webinar Series "The Coordinator of the UPN Veteran Yogyakarta Mining Engineering Undergraduate Study Program, Mrs. Ir. Wawong Dwi Ratminah, M.T., highly appreciates the organization of the 2021 Youth Mining Camp Competition, “All activities are running well, starting from national and international competitions, society projects, virtual fairs, webinar series and the national webinar ”Indonesian Mining & Energy Summit".

The event, which has been held from 12 - 26 June 2021, was closed with the IMES National Webinar which was attended by General TNI (Purn) Luhut Binsar Panjaitan as the Keynote Speaker and 4 resource persons guided by the Moderator with the discussion theme “Nickel Downstreaming to Support the Domestic Battery Industry” which is very appropriate given the current conditions and is still hot to discuss. With this YMCC event, it is an added value for the Mining Engineering Undergraduate Study Program and hopes that in the future YMCC will continue to be improved for the better." The Head of the Mining Engineering Department of UPN Veteran Yogyakarta, Mr. Dr. Ir. Eddy Winarno, S.Si., M.T., expressed his gratitude to the YMCC 2021 Organizing Committee for organizing this extraordinary event.

"In line with what has been conveyed in the discussion with the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of the Republic of Indonesia, that Indonesia will have many challenges and opportunities faced in the future in the mining world, so it must be able to anticipate this which is then adjusted or updated with the existing curriculum in the Mining Engineering Department of UPN Veteran Yogyakarta. The hope is that the next YMCC event can be bigger to the international level." This National Webinar Indonesian Mining & Energy Summit is not the end of YMCC 2021, but the beginning of the next bigger event.

See you on the Biggest Mining Event, Youth Mining Camp Competition 2023.

Viva Tambang!!!