KESDM Says Freeport Smelter Stops Operation At The End Of October Due To Landslide Mining

KESDM Says Freeport Smelter Stops Operation At The End Of October Due To Landslide Mining

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) revealed that the processing or smelter industry owned by PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) in the JIIPE Special Economic Zone (KEK), Gresik, East Java, will stop operating at the end of October.

The Director General of Mineral and Coal (Minerba) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Tri Winarno, said this was due to the lack of copper supply due to the cessation of mining activities due to the landslide incident at the Grassberg Block Cave (GBC).

"Until the end of October, maybe. So it's temporarily stopped," Tri told the media crew at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Office, quoted Tuesday, October 14.

Tri explained that until now the smelter at JIIPE is still operating because it still has stock from previous mining activities. However, it will slowly experience stock loss until the mine reopens.

"Automatically, you can't (operation). The end of this October, while stopping. The smelter is at JIIPE," added Tri.

Tri further added that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has also asked PTFI to evaluate the incident of landslides in the underground mine that killed the 7 workers. The government even asked PTFI to cooperate with former workers who knew about the intricacies of underground mines.

This, according to Tri, is so that similar incidents do not occur in the future.

"We ask to involve old workers who know about geotechnics, who know about the tunnels first, who designed them, right. For this, it is possible that it will happen again or not? If for example what mitigation will occur?" Tri said.

Previously, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia admitted that he could not decide the sanctions to be given to PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) for the landslide incident in the underground mine in the Grassberg Block Cave (GBC) area, Tembagapura.

"The sanctions are after the audit results. We can't punish something without any basis, right? We'll first audit what the problem is, what's the cause. After that we can provide recommendations," said Bahlil when met at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Office, Friday, October 10.

The chairman of the Golkar Party emphasized that it is important to conduct an audit process so that similar incidents do not occur in the future. For this reason, Bahlil also ensured that the audit process was carried out carefully and not in a hurry.

"And that requires various steps related to the civil technique, the mining technique. And this is my team continuing to carry out the audit process there," he said.