Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is currently negotiating with the government to obtain approval for an extension of its copper concentrate export permit. Following the expiry of the export permit in May 2024.
Quoting Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Performance and Operational Report. (FCX) third quarter 2023, Freeport-McMoRan is currently working to obtain an export permit for copper concentrate and anode mud for PTFI until the Manyar Smelter in Gresik is completed in 2024.
Freeport explained that on July 24 2023, PTFI had actually obtained a permit to export 1.7 million metric tons of copper concentrate until May 2024. Therefore, PTFI is currently negotiating with the Indonesian government to renew the export permit for copper cathodes and anode mud.
This is because construction of the copper smelter in Manyar will only be completed in mid-2024, followed by commissioning of the facility and a production increase schedule (ramp-up) until the end of 2024.
“PTFI is working with the Indonesian government to obtain approval to continue exporting copper concentrate and anode mud until the Manyar and PMR smelters are fully operational and reach the designed operating conditions,” said Freeport-McMoRan, quoted Monday, (23/10/2023).
According to Freeport, the copper smelter project in Manyar itself continues to experience significant progress. The project implementation to date has reached 84%. “The construction of this smelting plant is estimated to cost US$ 3.0 billion,” said the company.
The smelter, which is predicted to be the largest single line smelter in the world, is claimed to be capable of absorbing 1.7 million tons of copper concentrate per year. In the future, the copper cathode products produced could reach 600 thousand tons per year.
Apart from producing copper cathode products, this smelter will later produce by-products including products contained in anode mud, namely gold and pure silver, amounting to 6 thousand tons per year.
Other by-products are 1.5 million tons of sulfuric acid per year, 1.3 million tons of copper slag per year, and 150 thousand tons of gypsum per year.
The workforce at the new smelter is 150 thousand workers, of which 98% are Indonesian workers, including 50% local workers.
Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dadan Kusdiana, said that the process of applying for an extension of PTFI’s export permit is currently still in the process of being discussed with several ministries. “Yes, we’ll see, later there will be a discussion regarding the study of communication between the Ministry of Finance and other processes,” said Dadan at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Building, Monday (23/10/2023).
However, Dadan said that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources would continue to ensure the sustainability of the investment that would be disbursed by PTFI. Especially for development in mining areas and downstream projects. “We just follow existing regulations but we are also concerned about investment,” he added.
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Originally posted 2023-10-23 12:40:00.