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Govt wants to see PTFI smelter completed before extending concentrate export permit
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Work is ongoing on PT Freeport Indonesia's Manyar copper smelter and refinery in Gresik, East Java, on Feb. 29, 2024. (JP/Divya Karyza)
T
he government is waiting for PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) to complete its Manyar copper smelter and refinery in Gresik, East Java, before granting the company an extension of its copper concentrate export permit.
The gold and copper mining giant expects to finish the smelter’s commissioning stage by the end of May, which meets the government’s conditions for extending the permit that otherwise would expire that same month.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif stressed that the government had yet to decide whether to grant PTFI the permit extension.
“We [the government and PTFI] are both making promises. They promised to finish [the smelter], and we promised to approve [the export extension],” Arifin told reporters during a visit to the smelter at the Java Integrated Industrial and Ports Estate (JIIPE) in Gresik, East Java, on Thursday.
Read also: Freeport positive about permit extension for copper concentrate export
The US$3 billion Manyar smelter, which is to be the largest single-line smelter in the world, has a production capacity of 1.7 million tonnes and is expected to produce 600,000 tonnes of copper cathode annually.
The smelter’s main products are copper cathode, pure gold and silver bars as well as platinum group metal (PGM).
