REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Newmont Mining Corporation's Director Gary J. Goldberg and Director President Martiono Handianto met with Vice-President Jusuf Kalla to discuss the construction of a smelter in Indonesia.

"The construction project is a great investment and needs a high degree of certainty about financial aspects. We talked about infrastructure and the need to complete it soon," Handianto said after the meeting here Wednesday (11/3).

He explained that the Newmont management has signed a cooperation document with Freeport Indonesia, a mining company operating in Papua, to build a smelter in the country.

However, the location of the project has not been clearly mentioned.

"We are cooperating with Freeport that is analyzing all the aspects as the investment will be huge," Handianto noted, adding that the matter of profit sharing has not been discussed further.

Meanwhile, the General Director of Mineral and Coal, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Sukhyar, stated that the government has been expecting to see a cooperation agreement on smelter construction finalized between Newmont and Freeport Indonesia.

"We are waiting for the agreement to be signed. Whether Newmont will supply concentrates and also provide financial support for building the smelter will be explained in the agreement," he added.

According to Sukhyar, the government will issue a recommendation for export if Newmont confirms its commitment to building the smelter by March 19, 2015.

"If Newmont misses the deadline, we will not give any extension for seeking export permission," he added.

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