The giant mining company in Papua produces 5 thousand tons of copper concentrates per day.
Antique, Agus Dwi Darmawan
VIVAnews - PT Freeport Indonesia said they are still exporting 70 percent of copper concentrates for smelting.
The company is still expecting the development of two copper smelting factories as well to supply more of their copper concentrates to Indonesia.
“Currently, Freeport has supplied 30 percent or about 300 to 500 thousand tons of concentrates to Gresik (PT Gresik Smelter) per year,” PT Freeport Indonesia President Director & CEO, Armando Mahler said during the symbolical release of Indonesian artifacts to be displayed at the 2010 World Expo Shanghai China at Halim Perdanakusumah airport in Jakarta on Wednesday, February 24.
The giant mining company in Papua produces 5 thousand tons of copper concentrates per day.
Freeport has not planned to increase the number of domestic supplies due to the maximum production capacity of Gresik Smelter.
In fact, according to Mahler, Freeport is waiting for the results of business discussion between two future copper smelter companies in Indonesia, which are PT Indosmelt and PT Nusantara Smelting.
“Business to business has been discussed. I’ve already asked for a project presentation but I haven’t heard from them again,” Mahler said.
If the two factories will be up for development, Freeport will be analyzing the feasibility study of the possible copper concentrate supply contract.
“Due to the large number of smelter companies, in the future, in around 2013, the amount of concentrates in the world will be decreasing and the supplies will become rare,” he said.
Both future factories will have the capacity of 200-300 million tons per year. PT Nusantara Smelting will be located in Bontang and PT Indosmelt will be in Makassar.
Earlier, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has targeted investments in smelter establishment between 2010 and 2012 to reach US$ 6 billion.
There have been at least six smelter development projects in Indonesia, which include Nusantara Smelting’s copper smelter in Bontang, East Kalimantan with US$ 1 billion worth of investment value, Smelting Gresik in East Java and PT Aneka Tambang (aluminium) in Tayan, West Kalimantan.
The Minister of Industry, MS Hidayat also urges Freeport to supply all concentrates locally, so that the processing and the purification of the copper can be conducted within the country.
According to Law No 4 /2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining, the mining business community is required to process and purify their minerals and coals in the country at least five years since the law is issued.
The law sets the obligations of mining business license (IUP) holders, including the previous ones of having an Employment Contract (KK), a Contract of Work (PKP2B) and a Mining Authorization (KP).
Hidayat also said there had been several investors who had submitted a request to PT Freeport Indonesia to process and purify copper concentrates.
“However, there hasn’t been any confirmation on whether or not Freeport is willing to provide the concentrates,” he said during the meeting with the House of Representatives Trade and Industry Commission in Jakarta.
But, Hidayat assures that within the next five years, the company, which operates gold and copper mining in Tembaga Pura, Papua, would be willing to allocate all of its copper concentrates domestically. “It’s only a matter of time. It will happen in five years,” he said.
In working on the regulation, the Industry Ministry has been teaming up with the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to set a Governmental Decree Draft for the implementation.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
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