Bahlil Had Asked Amman Mineral To Sell Commodity Concentrat To Freeport

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia (Photo: Maria Trisnawati/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia revealed that he had asked the President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia, Tony Wenas, to discuss the purchase of a copper concentrate from PT Amman Mineral Internasional Tbk. (AMMN).

Just so you know, currently Freeport's smelter in Gresik cannot operate due to a supply vacuum after mining activities were stopped due to landslides in an underground mine last September.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Amman Mineral proposed to export a copper concentrate because his smelter experienced a majeure force due to a fire incident.

"I asked Mr. Tony yesterday. Yesterday I met with me, I asked Amman and Freeport to communicate B2B so that their materials could be purchased by Freeport to be processed at the Freeport smelter at an economic price," Bahlil told the media crew at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Building, Friday, November 14.

Nevertheless, Bahlil emphasized that this was a Business to Business (B2B) agreement between the two companies so that it could not be intervened by the government.

Furthermore, Bahlil also said that Amman Mineral's actual export permit application had been carried out long before the landslide incident at the Freeport underground mine.

"Amman did (submissions) before the accident occurred at Freeport. Then we checked, we reported, it was proven that there was damage to the condition of the makan," continued Bahlil.

The permit given by the government to Amman to export copper concentrate is 6 months until the smelter repair process is complete.

"We have given the export license for 6 months. Until it is finished, they will be damaged," said Bahlil.

Just so you know, Amman Mineral through its subsidiary, PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara (AMNT) has a recommendation for copper concentrate exports from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of 480,000 dry metric tons which is valid for 6 months starting October 31, 2025.

AMNT President Director Rachmat Makkasau appreciated the support of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. He explained that AMNT's smelter stopped operating in July and August 2025 due to improvements in Flash Converting Furnace and ulfur Acid Plant units.

"This damage occurred purely beyond our ability, unintentional and unavoidable. The operational activities of this smelter facility had to be temporarily suspended to prevent further damage," Rachmat wrote in a statement to the media, November 1.

He added that the repair of the uatma smelter component has a high complexity level scale and must be carried out thoroughly. Given the scale and complexity of the work, the repair process is expected to continue until the first half of 2026.

"During the period of improvement, we continue to carry out partial operations with a careful increase in production without ignoring safety aspects," said Rachmat.

Meanwhile, based on financial reports in the third quarter, AMMN targets production in 2025 of 430,000 metric tons of dry copper concentrate with a content of around 280 million pounds of copper and 90,000 ounces of gold.