Freeport Smelter Project Reaches 51%, Will Enter the Electric Car Ecosystem
Story from Tia Dwitiani Komalasari • Yesterday 9.14pm
The construction of the
smelter project carried out by PT Freeport Indonesia (PT FI) in the Java Integrated and Industrial Port Estate (JIIPE) area, Manyar, Gresik, East Java has reached 51.7 percent. The project is targeted to be completed by the end of 2023 and operate in May 2024.
"Until the end of December 2022, the construction of the project has reached 51.7 percent and swallowed an investment of around 1.63 billion US dollars or equivalent to IDR 25 trillion," said President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia, Toni Wenas quoted from
Antara, Saturday (14/1).
Toni said that this development is a form of PT Freeport Indonesia in supporting the government's downstream policy and is making a large investment in the construction of a new smelter as mandated in the Special Mining Business Permit (IUPK). "The total area of the Manyar smelter is around 100 hectares," he said.
He said the Manyar smelter is designed to have a copper concentrate processing capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum which makes it the largest copper processing site in the world.
The processing results of the Manyar smelter will be added to the processing capacity of the smelter that has been operating, PT Smelting, with a processing capacity of 1 million tons of copper concentrate every year.
"Thus, after the Manyar smelter operates, Freeport is able to process 3 million tons of copper concentrate per year," he said.
The Manyar smelter will produce 550,000 tons of copper cathodes per year. The smelter is also equipped with gold and silver refining.
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Become an Electric Vehicle Ecosystem
Toni said that this smelter will be an important part of the
electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem that is being launched by the government. The
electric vehicle ecosystem consists of nickel, cobalt, aluminum, copper, graphite and iron.
"Of course, it is an important part of Indonesia's
electric vehicles and will be an important part of
renewable energy that is widely built in a number of countries, because 65 percent of the world's copper is used to conduct electricity," he said.
In terms of human resources, Freeport has started recruitment and coaching, so the Freeport smelter will be operated by itself. This development has absorbed a cost of 1.63 billion US dollars or around Rp25 trillion.
Tony made sure this smelter was built with a single line or
single-line design and became the largest in the world. He hopes that a total of 600,000 tons of copper metal can be consumed by domestic downstream industries.
"More downstream industries are growing better to support the EV ecosystem and other domestic needs. This provokes the downstream industry to grow if it is accompanied by the right policies and promotions," he said.
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The government targets the construction of smelters in the mineral and coal subsector to reach 53 units by 2024. The investment value for the construction of the smelter is estimated to reach US$ 21.60 billion or equivalent to Rp 308.7 trillion (exchange rate of Rp 14,295/US$).
The construction of the smelter will be carried out in stages. In 2020, the number of smelters that have been built reached 19 units. This number consists of 13 nickel smelters, 2 copper smelters, 2 bauxite smelters, 1 iron smelter, and 1 manganese smelter.
The government projects an additional four new smelters to operate this year, bringing the total to 23 units. A year later, the targeted smelter operates as many as 28 units. The number of smelters is also targeted to be 53 units in 2023 and 2024.
