Building a Smelter, Freeport Spends US $ 303 Million Until August
PT Freeport Indonesia revealed that the progress of the construction of a copper mineral refining facility (smelter) reached 5.86 percent as of last September. The total expenditure that has been disbursed by August has reached US $ 303 million. Freeport smelter construction is hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Freeport Indonesia President Director Tony Wenas said that his party had completed several stages of this copper smelter project, including studies feasibility study, detailed design (front end engineering design / FEED), and land maturation.
"Until September, the smelter construction progress was 5.86 percent, and the investment until the end of August was the US $ 303 million," said Tony.
Tony revealed that the smelter being built is targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, that plan was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. His party also submitted a request for revision of the target for up to 12 months. The reason is smelter construction activities, as well as contractors from several countries constrained by the policy of limiting mobility.
"We remain committed to building a smelter as written in the IUPK (special mining business permit) and our agreement with the government. Second, if the government has other directions related to it, we will follow the directions decided by the government, "he said.
Smelter Freeport is located in the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate (JIIPE) industrial area in Gresik, East Java. This smelter project is designed to have a capacity of 2 million tons of copper concentrate and is integrated with a slime anode refining facility. The capacity of this slime anode smelter is 6,000 tons. Meanwhile, the smelter investment reaches US $ 3 billion.
Freeport has submitted a request for postponement of the smelter construction to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources since last April. The official request includes an adjustment to the smelter target for 12 months.
This means that the smelter project will only be completed in 2024. However, until now there has been no official position submitted by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources related to the request.
In early September, ESDM Minister Arifin Tasrif made a working visit to the smelter project. After making the visit, the Minister requested Freeport will immediately complete the smelter construction.
Investor Daily, Page-10, Thursday, Oct 15, 2020
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