Indonesia's government will seek to extend by 180 days the Sept. 27 deadline on its planned purchase of a stake in Newmont Mining Corp.'s (NEM) local unit, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Friday.

"The government will ask for more time...to allow (us) to refine our offer" for the stake in PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, or PTNNT, Mulyani told reporters.

The government plans to buy at least 14% of PTNNT, which is due to be divested by Newmont to local buyers. Newmont's contract stipulates that it must sell 51% of PTNNT to local buyers by next year.

Part of that comprises stakes in the unit that were scheduled to be sold in previous years. The sales were delayed by problems with negotiations.

An international arbitration panel in March ruled that the stakes must be sold by Sept. 27.

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