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Indonesia ups its gold game with Gresik smelter
Experts view PTFI’s gold refinery as a major step for the national gold industry, but whether Indonesia can become a major player in the global market remains uncertain.
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This handout photo taken and released on March 17, 2025 by the Presidential Palace shows an aerial view of the smelter facility operated by PT Freeport Indonesia, the world's largest integrated precious metal refinery, during President Prabowo Subiantos visit to inaugurate the facility in Gresik, East Java. (AFP/Indonesian Presidential Palace)
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ndonesia has boosted its push toward downstreaming the mining sector with the opening of PT Freeport Indonesia’s (PTFI) new precious metal refinery, but analysts suggest more needs to be done to maximize the benefits and secure the industry’s ecosystem.
Inaugurating the refinery in Gresik, East Java, on Monday, President Prabowo Subianto touted the facility as a “strategic step” in the country’s mineral industrialization efforts aimed at developing the national economy.
The government believes the refinery will serve as a catalyst to increase state revenue, enhance competitiveness and secure the nation’s gold supply, complementing the launch of its bullion bank service in February.
“Our nation will not only sell raw materials but also finished goods and final products with a high added value,” he said.
Read also: Freeport commits to building 2 copper manufacturing plants, Bahlil says
PTFI has become Indonesia’s first vertically integrated copper mining company capable of refining anode slime into pure gold bars.
By processing impure anodes into gold bars, the refinery completes PTFI’s full mining-to-refining production chain, from upstream mining to downstream refining, the company said, adding it is also the world’s largest integrated processing facility.
