Freeport Indonesia, a joint venture between US-based Freeport-McMoRan and the Indonesian government, has begun to construct copper smelter and precious metal refinery in Gresik Special Economic Zone, East Java. Worth USD 3 billion, the smelter will be developed on a 100 ha area and has a capacity of 1.7 million tons of copper concentrate annually. Besides housing smelting and converting furnaces, the plant will also include an electro-refinery, a wastewater treatment plant, a sulphuric acid plant and ancillary equipment.
In July 2021, Freeport Indonesia appointed Chiyoda International Indonesia with an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project. A Finnish company, Metso Outotec, was given the engineering and technology contract.
Expected to be commissioned in 2024, the smelter will be used to produce other products from copper that can be utilized as components for lithium batteries manufacturing. This is in line with the country’s plan to establish an Electric Vehicle (EV) supply chain.
(Source: NS Energy)
