JAKARTA - Construction of a single line smelter belonging to PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) in the Java Integrated and Industrial Port Estate (JIIPE) Gresik district, East Java is asked to be accelerated to 4 percent per month.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif said the results of the realization will be monitored every year.
"This project is sought to be able to get an acceleration of 4 percent per month. Later it can be seen the realization until the end of the year," said Arifin quoting Antara.
Based on the report he received, said Arifin, until the first quarter or the end of March 2023, the progress of the construction of copper smelters had reached 61.5 percent, and the acceleration of up to 4 percent per month was a challenge for PTFI.
"The government is committed to assisting what can be helped for smelters, so that the target for the May 2024 operational smelter can be realized. Moreover, PTFI has made several adjustments to the progress of the smelter construction," he said.
In detail, he said, the construction of PTFI's Smelter Manyar Project has a progress of 61.5 percent as of the end of March 2023. In its construction, PTFI has also spent US$1.95 billion, or equivalent to Rp28.4 trillion.
The progress that has been running includes the construction of a 100 percent stake with a total of 18 thousand piles, 60 percent concrete concentrate, 28 percent steel structure installation, 15 percent steel installation in the tank area, and 98 percent port construction.
Meanwhile, the government has granted permission to extend the export of copper concentrates in June 2023, and based on the mandate of Law Number 3 of 2020 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining (UU Minerba), the government has begun to stop exports of raw minerals, including concentrate, on June 10, 2023.
Freeport Indonesia's certainty of obtaining a copper concentrate export license after June 2023 was disclosed by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif.
PT Freeport Indonesia President Director Tony Wenas appreciated the support provided by the government. This is because the PTFI smelter will be completed in May 2024.
"We appreciate the government's support in ensuring that the continuity of mining operations is technically very much needed and the sustainability of investment which will have a significant impact on the Indonesian economy, especially the Papuan people," he said.
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