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===Project writedown===
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In July 2009, following the global financial crisis, [[BHP Billiton]] announced that it was shelving the project after reviewing work on the trial [[Haju mine]]. In a brief media release the company stated that it had "assessed the progress of the Haju trial mine and determined it is not a sufficient fit with our long term investment strategy." It also stated that "further evaluation of the company’s interests in the Maruwai Coal Project is underway to determine the best future commercial options."<ref name=Canned>BHP Billiton, [http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bb/investorsMedia/news/2009/reviewOfMaruwaiCoalProjectInIndonesia.jsp "Review of Maruwai Coal Project in Indonesia"], Media Release, June 9, 2009.</ref>
In its half-yearly report annual report to the end of 2009, which was released in February 2010, BHP Billiton stated that a "total charge of US$665 million (US$23 million tax expense) was recognised primarily in relation to the decisions to cease development of the Maruwai Haju trial mine (Indonesia), sell the Suriname operations, suspend copper sulphide mining operations at Pinto Valley (US) and cease the pre-feasibility study at Corridor Sands (Mozambique)."<ref>BHP Billiton, [http://www.bhpbilliton.com/home/investors/reports/Documents/2010/100210BhpBillitonInterimResultsNewsRelease.pdf "BHP Billiton results for the half-year ended 31 December 2009"], page 30.</ref> No detailed breakdown of the write-down for each of the projects was provided.
In March 2010 BHP Billiton announced that it had entered into "binding agreements to create a new joint venture for its Indonesian Coal Project (ICP) with a subsidiary of [[PT Adaro Energy]] TBK (Adaro), which has agreed to acquire a 25 per cent interest in the ICP joint venture. BHP Billiton holds the remaining 75 per cent."<ref name=JV>BHP Billiton, [http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bb/investorsMedia/news/2010/bhpBillitonEntersIntoAJointVentureForItsIndonesianCoalProjectmaruwai.jsp "BHP Billiton Enters Into a Joint Venture For Its Indonesian Coal Project (Maruwai)"], Media Release, March 31, 2010.</ref> In May 2010 it was announced that Adaro's 25% stake had cost $335 million.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSJKB00364020100527 "Adaro finalises Indonesia coal JV with BHP Billiton"], ''Reuters'', May 27, 2010.</ref>
Even though the project had stalled, the company sought to use it as a political weapon against the Australian government when it was proposing a 40% resources super-tax profit. BHP Billiton's chief executive, Marius Kloppers, publicly stated that if the tax went ahead it would make the IndoMet more attractive compared to projects in the Bowen Basin in Queensland.<ref>Matt Chambers, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/offshore-coal-deal-appeals-to-bhp-in-face-of-rspt/story-e6frg8zx-1225872742287 "Offshore coal deal appeals to BHP in face of RSPT"], ''The Australian'', May 29, 2010.</ref>
The following week, a Citi analyst, Clarke Wilkins, told ''The Australian'' that it could consider a tripling of the the production rate of the project is the resources super-tax went ahead. "Although the resource may appear to be a limitation, we understand the planning of BHP and Adaro is for a 15 to 20 million tonnes a year operation ... If BHP is constrained in its ability to grow in Australia through infrastructure constraints or the tax grab by the government, a more meaningful development of Murawai could be on the cards." However, Wilkins added a significant caveat. "Given that an operation of this scale would require significant investment in infrastructure (rail instead of road haulage), there would need to be further exploration success to increase the resource to justify it," he said.<ref>Matt Chambers, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/bhp-billiton-eyes-indonesian-coal-upgrade/story-e6frg8zx-1225875233699 "BHP Billiton eyes Indonesian coal upgrade"], ''The Australian'', June 4, 2010.</ref>
===Project regains momentum===
