JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif asked PT. Vale to increase the production of refined nickel derivatives through downstreaming, in order to provide more optimal added value and increase investment and also create massive employment opportunities for local residents.
"Earlier we discussed with management how in the future Indonesia can also have an industry to produce nickel powder. There is not much nickel powder in the world. We have nickel, why don't we make it from core to purified nickel at once," said the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources in an official statement, Monday, August 15.
Agus added that PT Vale Indonesia currently has a nickel processing and refining facility in Sorowako with a capacity of 70.000 tons of nickel matte.
In addition to the existing project, Vale plans to build three new smelters.
First, the Reduction Kiln-Electric Furnace (RKEF) nickel processing facility with an estimated production of 73.000 tons in the form of FeNi (ferronickel) in Morowali, Central Sulawesi.
Second, the Pomalaa High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) plant construction project located in Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi with a potential production capacity of 120.000 tons.
The development project for the Integrated Nickel Commodity Processing and Refining Facility with Mining in Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi has been designated as a National Strategic Project.
Furthermore, the last is the plan to build the HPAL plant, which is the Sorowako smelter expansion project with a target production capacity of around 60 kilo tons of nickel.
SEE ALSO:
During his visit to the nickel mine in Sorowako, South Sulawesi, Arifin Tasrif appreciated PT Vale Indonesia (PT Vale) in managing the nickel mine there.
"We give our appreciation to the management of PT Vale Indonesia, which has continuously tried to optimize the processing of our resources, especially nickel, so that it can become one of the leading (in nickel mining)," he concluded.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
