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tate-owned mining firm PT Aneka Tambang is hoping to complete the expansion of its Pomalaa ferronickel plant in Southeast Sulawesi ahead of schedule, after securing a US$100 million credit facility with state-owned Eximbank.

The company'€™s president, Tato Miraza, said after signing the new loan agreement on Friday that he hoped to expedite the construction of the ferronickel expansion project so that the company would be able to use the new facility ahead of September next year, as initially planned.

'€œAntam [Aneka Tambang] will accelerate the completion of the project so that the company can benefit from the recovery in the nickel price following the government'€™s ban of nickel ore exports earlier this year,'€ Tato said.

The $100 million loan facility is a part of a total credit facility amounting to $160 million provided by Eximbank.

The credit facility has a maturity of 10 years and a grace period of two years.

The project, which was started on Feb. 7, 2013, consists of eight construction packages, namely Jetty and Facilities (package I); belt conveyors (package II); ferronickel plant-1 (package III); ladle furnace (package IV); ore preparation & calcination (package V); electric smelting furnace (package VI); oxygen plant (package VII), and the development of two by 30 megawatt coal-fired power plants (package VIII).

Currently, Antam has completed 42 percent of the total construction, which is scheduled for completion in September next year. '€œAntam has completed several of the packages, namely the ladle furnace, belt conveyors, jetty and facilities, while the rest are still ongoing,'€ Tato said, adding that Antam aimed to have the electric smelting furnace enter commissioning later this year.

The $573 million project was expected to increase the ferronickel smelter'€™s production capacity to between 27,000 and 30,000 tons of nickel in ferronickel (TNi) from between 18,000 and 20,000 TNi previously, he said.

The project, he continued, was initially funded by proceeds from Antam'€™s bonds, which were offered to the market in late 2011. Antam managed to make Rp 3 trillion ($261 million) from the bond offering and used almost 80 percent of the amount to finance the project. '€œThe funds from the bonds will run out in May, so [Antam] is very grateful for the loan,'€ he said.

Antam, therefore, needs around $240 million this year to finish the project. To cover the shortfall, the company would also use its own internal cash or seek another small loan, aside from the Eximbank facility, he added.

The project is another milestone for Antam, becoming the firm'€™s third mineral processing project after the Meratus Jaya iron ore and steel plants in Tanah Bumbu regency, South Kalimantan, and the chemical grade alumina refinery in Tayan, West Kalimantan.

Meanwhile, Antam is awaiting the results of a discussion between PT Freeport Indonesia and the government relating to the planned development of a copper smelter, which may be established in East Java.

'€œAntam is still discussing the details of the smelter'€™s shared ownership [with Freeport],'€ Tato said. (ask)