21 June 2023
Minister of Investment, Bahlil Lahadalia, stated PT Freeport Indonesia's investment in constructing a smelter in Gresik, East Java, has reached USD 2.2 billion (IDR 33 trillion) as of May 2023. The world's largest smelter construction project has also absorbed 15,000 Indonesian workers. Meanwhile, PTFI's total investment is USD 3 billion or IDR 45 trillion. It means there will be another IDR 12 trillion of funds that Freeport will disburse for the project.
"Through this smelter project, we carry out downstream to create added value. We want Indonesia to be known not only for its natural resources, but also for its products. It has been proven that downstream resources can increase state revenues," Bahlil said in a written statement Wednesday (21/6/2023). "Nickel, for example, rose from USD 3.3 billion to USD 30 billion after we stopped exporting nickel and started downstream," he added. Meanwhile, Bahlil accompanied President Joko Widodo when he visited the Freeport smelter, which produces gold, copper and other processed minerals on Tuesday (20/6).
On the same occasion, PTFI President Director Tony Wenas revealed the smelter project is Freeport Indonesia's contribution in downstream mining, in line with the Indonesian government's focus on encouraging economic transformation through downstream. Moreover, Indonesia has abundant resources to supply concentrate to Gresik to be refined into copper cathodes, gold and silver bars.
After its operating later, this smelter will be able to produce 600,000 tons of copper, 50 tons of gold and 210 tons of silver per year. "Copper is used for various purposes, but most importantly for conducting electricity, including for electric vehicles. Copper is very promising in the future, it is fortunate that Indonesia is one of the main players in copper," said Tony.
PTFI's smelter project is located in the Java Integrated Industrial and Ports Estate (JIIPE) Special Economic Zone (KEK) in Gresik Regency, East Java. The construction of the PTFI Smelter in Gresik has been carried out since 2021, which was signed by the laying of the first stone by President Jokowi on 12 October 2021.
This project includes a copper smelter with a capacity of 1.7 million tons per year and a precious metal refinery (PMR) of 6,000 tons per year. The products produced are copper cathodes, pure gold and silver bars, platinum group metals (PGM), as well as other products such as sulfuric acid, slag, gypsum and lead.
While visiting the progress of the project, President Jokowi expressed his appreciation for the realization of the smelter construction progress, which will reach 72 percent and is targeted to be completed before May 2024.
According to President Jokowi, production from the smelter must be integrated with the results of other mining commodities spread across various regions in Indonesia and processed into value-added end products such as electric vehicles and batteries. "So, in the future we will have competitiveness there. Our competitiveness is in that field. This smelter is the foundation for us to become a developed country because from what was based on consumption, now we are based on production," said Jokowi.
Kami menghimbau para pencari kerja untuk berhati-hati dan mewaspadai beragam modus penipuan perekrutan yang mengatasnamakan PT Freeport Indonesia. Dalam setiap proses rekrutmen dan penerimaan karyawan, PT Freeport Indonesia maupun konsultan rekruitmennya tidak memungut biaya apapun.
Untuk melihat lowongan, silakan akses melalui link berikut: ptfi e-recruitment
Untuk melihat informasi magang, silakan akses melalui link berikut: Internship Program
