Freeport plans copper smelter in East Java<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): After a suspension of over one year, Freeport
\nMcMoRan Cooper & Gold Inc. from the United States and its new
\npartners have agreed to take over a copper smelting project in
\nGresik, East Java.<\/p>\n
Freeport reported recently that the company has reached a
\nfinal agreement with its new partners -- Mitsubishi Materials
\nCorporation of Japan and Fluor Daniel Inc. of the United States
\n-- to construct the copper project under a build, own and operate
\nplan.<\/p>\n
The project, designed to have a production capacity of 200,000
\nmetric tons of copper cathodes, will be owned by a new joint
\nventure which will be 70 percent owned by Mitsubishi, 20 percent
\nby Freeport and the remaining 10 percent by Fluor Daniel.<\/p>\n
The project will be owned totally by foreign firms, without
\nany involvement of a domestic partner.<\/p>\n
In a statement made available yesterday, Freeport said, \"The
\ntakeover has been approved by the Investment Coordinating Board.\"<\/p>\n
The project, estimated to cost US$550 million, will be partly
\nfinanced by a combination of non-recourse loans and the venture's
\nown equity, Freeport said.<\/p>\n
The project was earlier planned to be established by a
\nFreeport subsidiary, PT Freeport Indonesia Company, in
\ncooperation with Japan's Nippon Mining, Metallgesselschaft AG of
\nGermany and Indonesian private industrial companies, with a
\nplanned investment of some $600 million.<\/p>\n
But due to a financial fiasco in the German company, Freeport
\nIndonesia and Rio Tinto Minera of Spain, both subsidiaries of
\nFreeport, last year took over Metallgesselschaft to act as major
\nshareholders in the Gresik smelter project.<\/p>\n
Manager<\/p>\n
According to Freeport, Fluor Daniel will act as the overall
\nproject manager responsible for engineering, procurement and
\nconstruction, using Mitsubishi's continuous copper smelting
\nprocessing system.<\/p>\n
Mitsubishi, which will be in position to manage and operate
\nthe smelter, will also be responsible for the marketing of copper
\ncathodes and other products of the copper plant, it said.<\/p>\n
\"PT Freeport Indonesia Company will provide 100 percent of the
\nsmelter's copper concentrate feed stock requirement, estimated to
\nbe approximately 600,000 metric tons annually,\" they said. The
\ncopper concentrate for the Gresik project will be supplied by
\nFreeport Indonesia from its mine in Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
The construction of the plant is expected to begin by the
\nmiddle of this year and to be on stream in the second half of
\n1998.<\/p>\n
The report also stated that the smelter project in Gresik
\nremains subject to the execution of definitive agreements among
\nthe concerned parties, the confirmation of the feasibility of the
\nproject, financing and certain Indonesian governmental approvals.<\/p>\n
An earlier report said that Freeport Indonesia has planned to
\nincrease its output capacity in Irian Jaya to 115,000 tons of ore
\nper day, from 70,000 tons at present, with a metal equivalent of
\n1.2 billion pounds of copper and 1.5 million ounces of gold.<\/p>\n
In a related development, an Indonesia-New Zealand joint
\nventure, PT Copper Smelter Indonesia, has reportedly planned the
\nestablishment of a similar copper smelter plant in Gresik with an
\ninvestment of $648 million.<\/p>\n
The plant, which will be owned by Brierly Investment Ltd.,
\nSouthpac Corporation Ltd., both of New Zealand, Universal
\nSecurities of Monaco and a local company, PT Citra Pertiwi
\nCentra. The plant is designed to have an output capacity of
\n150,000 metric tons of refined copper and 420,000 tons of
\nsulfuric acid per annum. (fhp)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/freeport-plans-copper-smelter-in-east-java-1447893297",
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