MIND ID Expands Bauxite Downstreaming to Rare Earth Elements

Holding Industri Pertambangan Indonesia MIND ID is expanding bauxite downstreaming by developing rare earth elements (REE) to generate new economic value. “If Indonesia can separate REE from its associated minerals economically and efficiently, Indonesia has essentially become an REE processing country,” said MIND ID Vice President Director Dany Amrul Ichdan in a statement in Jakarta on Monday. As downstreaming progresses, the company sees the need to strengthen the supply chain by optimising the potential of every mineral processing stage. MIND ID has shipped 3,013.5 tonnes of Alumina Hydroxide and 1,740 tonnes of Alumina Oxide, or Chemical Grade Alumina (CGA), from Dwikora Port in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, to South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China. This milestone is believed to demonstrate that value-added products from Indonesia’s bauxite downstreaming can reach global markets. REE has become a company target because its potential can be found in natural minerals as well as non-conventional sources, including bauxite residue, nickel slag, and tin processing by-products. However, Dany said REE development requires regulatory certainty, particularly because several REE elements appear as associated minerals in very low concentrations. He hopes for clear and proportional threshold limits to distinguish REE as a primary mineral from associated elements in export commodities. “This certainty is important because the presence of REE in low concentrations does not automatically make a commodity viable for extraction as an REE product. Elements such as cerium and lanthanum, for example, can be found in parts per million (ppm) levels,” Dany explained. To build this capability, MIND ID, together with the Mineral Industry Agency (BIM) and supported by BRIN, is currently developing a national REE processing and refining technology roadmap, including mapping raw material sources and required technologies. The development of REE is considered strategic because it is needed by various future industries, ranging from electric vehicles and renewable energy to electronics and high-tech manufacturing. “MIND ID continues to open collaboration opportunities with all stakeholders to strengthen national industrial independence while creating new sources of economic growth for Indonesia,” he said.