Antam And Freeport Officially Sell Gold, Erick Thohir Says Opening Opportunities For The Form Of A Billion Bank

SOE Minister Erick Thohir (photo; Maria Trisnawati/VOI)

JAKARTA Two SOE Members of the Indonesian Mining Industry Holding, MIND ID, PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) and PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) strengthened the synergy through the gold sale and purchase agreement.

Through this agreement, Antam will buy as much as 30 tons of gold with a purity of 99.99 percent of Freeport Indonesia. The gold raw material will then be processed by Antam at the Mulia Metal Processing and Purification Factory to become Antam's precious metal products.

Present at the signing, the Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir said that the synergy between Indonesia and Gold will be able to make Indonesia more independent. This momentum will also raise Indonesia's level in the global arena, which is currently only the owner of the world's 43rd largest gold bullion reserve.

"With this collaboration, we witnessed MIND ID with its members Antam and Freeport Indonesia synergize for the good of the nation. Of course it is not enough there. We will continue to explore opportunities for further synergy, including for the formation of the Bullion Bank," said Erick, quoted on Friday, November 8.

MIND ID President Director Hendi Prio Santoso said the company has a mandate to manage mineral natural resource reserves. The mineral resource reserves need to be increased in added value through an integrated downstream program from upstream to downstream.

Therefore, MIND ID together with all members are consistent in looking for synergy opportunities within the group, as well as collaboration with various partners in the mineral mining industry sector both nationally and globally.

Hendi said, through synergy and collaboration between Antam and Freeport Indonesia, the potential for business development of the MIND ID Group could be further strengthened, thus adding to the company's business strength base as the backbone of downstreaming Indonesia's mineral resources.

According to Hendi, the Indonesian economy will have a positive impact, especially from foreign exchange savings, which have been used to import gold raw materials from abroad.

"With this synergy, Indonesia saves foreign exchange because it does not have to import raw materials for the production of Antam's precious metals. This means that the Indonesian people enjoy the results of their own produce, from raw materials to finished materials," he said.

Hendi explained that Freeport Indonesia is one of the gold producers in Indonesia with a purification capacity of around 50 tons to 60 tons of gold per year.

Meanwhile, Antam is the only Member of MIND ID who has successfully capitalized in the Indonesian end user market, with sales in 2023 reaching 26.1 tons.

With this collaboration, Hendi emphasized that Freeport Indonesia has a better gold distribution channel. Antam also has the certainty of supply of raw materials from within the country and to continue to answer the increasing investment needs of the Indonesian people.

"Of course, we will continue to encourage this synergy between members of the MIND ID Group and we will make it a model in the future, namely how we can optimize one industrial supply chain in the country and by the nation itself," said Hendi.