20 December 2021
PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has now been present in Papua for 54 years. Operating since 1970, Freeport continues to develop its mining operation in Tembagapura, Papua. Freeport has 2 main mining areas, the Grasberg open pit and the underground mining complex. The Grasberg open pit ended operations in early 2020. Freeport is now focusing on underground mining with its 4 mines: Big Gossan, Deep Ore Zone (DOZ), Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ) and Grasberg Block Cave (GBC).
"The four mines currently produce 150-170 thousand tons of ore per day. Production at DOZ is 3,000-5,000 tons of ore per day. This mine is almost depleted and nearing its end and is scheduled to shut down early next year. Big Gossan produces 7,000 tons of ore per day. Meanwhile production at our new mine GBC amounts to 71 thousand tons per day,” PTFI Executive Vice President of Operations and Chief Mine Engineer Carl Tauran informed detik. com at his office in Tembagapura, Mimika, Papua some time ago.
The ore produced from the mines subsequently undergo a process known as flotation to separate minerals from the rock residue at a mill, producing concentrate containing copper and the associated minerals gold and silver. Concentrate is the final product from PTFI’s mining operation, which is then delivered to a smelter for further processing into semi-finished products that are absorbed by downstream industries.
Carl predicts production of concentrate containing the minerals copper, gold and silver will increase. Big Gossan production will amount to 70 thousand tons per day, DMLZ production will be 80 thousand tons per day, and GBC, 130 thousand tons per day. "Freeport has a smelter in Gresik that was built in 1996 and is operated by PT Smelting. This first smelter currently has a capacity to process 1 million Dry Metric Tons (DMT) of copper concentrate into 300,000 tons of copper cathode per year. PT Smelting is now expanding its production capacity from 1 million tons of concentrate to 1.3 million tons per year, which will increase its processing capacity by approximately 30 percent to achieve around 1.3 million DMT.
We are currently building a second smelter in the JIIPE area in Gresik that will have a capacity of 1.7 million tons. At this time this second smelter’s development is entering the construction stage, following the Front-End Engineering Design, reclamation and ground reinforcement, and detail engineering stages that were begun in 2018.
Development of this second smelter has now achieved 8% progress. This reaffirms PTFI’s commitment to smelter development in compliance with the divestment agreement reached in 2018. Mandatory smelter development is stipulated in PTFI’s IUPK special mining operation permit that is an inseparable part of PTFI’s license to continue operating until 2041," Carl stated, ending the conversation. PTFI development of its second smelter is expected to boost growth of domestic downstream industries for consumption of the copper cathodes produced, such as cable plants in Indonesia, and the manufacture of electric vehicles.
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
