State-owned nickel and gold mining company PT Aneka Tambang (ANTM.JK) is considering acquiring a stake in BHP Billiton Ltd.'s (BHP) Indonesian coal assets as part of its plan to buy a coal project as early as this year, an executive at Antam, as the company is known, said Thursday.

Djaja Tambunan, Antam's finance director, told Dow Jones Newswires the company is considering offers from BHP Billiton to buy its local coal assets or partner it in developing them. He didn't indicate how large a stake Antam might seek.

BHP Billiton has said it is considering selling all or part of the Maruwai metallurgical coal project in Central and East Kalimantan. The company earlier this year dropped a plan to spend about $100 million developing the Haju trial mine at Maruwai.

A spokesperson at BHP Billiton in Australia declined to comment directly on Antam's comment, saying only that the company "continues to review (its) commercial options" with regard to Maruwai, including selling all or part of the project.

Tambunan said Antam is also looking at other coal assets in Kalimantan and Sulawesi provinces.

-By Linda Silaen, Dow Jones Newswires; 62 21 3983 1277; Reuben.Carder@dowjones.com