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Antam shifts to Freeport for gold, ditching imports
SOEs Minister Erick Thohir plans to establish a bullion service to distribute Antam’s gold through pawnshop operator Pegadaian and major banks, such as BRI and BSI.
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State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir (left to right), MIND ID CEO Hendi Prio Santoso, PT Freeport Indonesia CEO Tony Wenas, PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) CEO Nicolas Kanter and Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Yuliot Tanjung pose for photographs following the signing of a gold purchase agreement between Antam and Freeport Indonesia in Jakarta on Nov. 7, 2024. (SOE Ministry/-)
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old producer PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) has signed a purchase agreement to source 30 tonnes of the precious metal annually from fellow state-owned enterprise (SOE) PT Freeport Indonesia.
According to Antam’s parent, mining holding company MIND ID, the partnership aligns with the country’s commitment to develop domestic mineral processing industries.
“With this synergy, we can conserve foreign reserves by eliminating the need to import raw material for Antam’s gold production. This way, Indonesians can fully enjoy the country’s natural wealth [like gold], from mine to finished goods,” MIND ID president director Hendi Prio Santoso said in press release published on Thursday.
Antam has a state mandate for exploration and mining as well as for processing and purifying precious metals. It is the only state-run firm that sells precious metals directly to end consumers, with 26.1 tonnes of gold products sold last year.
Antam president director Nicolas Kanter said in the same statement that the deal was part of the firm’s commitment to meeting people’s demand for investing in gold.
The deal became possible after Freeport Indonesia completed its Gresik smelter in East Java this year, designed to process copper concentrate from the Grasberg Mine in Papua. The smelter has an input capacity of 1.7 million tonnes and can produce approximately 900,000 tonnes of copper cathode, 50 tonnes of gold and 210 tonnes of silver every year.
Read also: Freeport halts production at new copper smelter after fire
