REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The construction of a smelter in Papua is intended to handle the mining output of PT Freeport Indonesia, according to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said.
"Construction of a smelter in Gresik, East Java, is an extension of the existing one, while the one in Papua is intended to refine the mining production of PT Freeport," the minister remarked in a statement on Wednesday.
He noted that in future, Indonesia will need a refining capacity of at least four million tons to process raw materials such as gold, silver, and coal.
According to Sudirman, PT Freeport has agreed to build a smelter on a 650-hectare plot of land at the Poumako industrial area in Papua.
He stated that a Chinese investor will build the smelter in Papua, while PT Freeport Indonesia will supply the raw materials.
Therefore, Freeport will be involved in the development of two smelters, one in Gresik and the other in Papua.
Fertilizer, petrochemical, LPG filling, and cement plants will also be set up at the Poumako industrial area where Freeport will build its smelter.
The Papua provincial government is also committed to allocating an initial investment worth Rp2 trillion for the development of the industrial area, which can be expanded up to two thousand hectares.
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