AMNT starts construction of copper smelter
Saturday, April 29 2017 - 04:34 AM WIB
Gold and copper mining firm PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara (AMNT) started on Friday construction of its copper smelter project located near its giant Batu Hijau mine in West Nusa Tenggara Province.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan led a ground-breaking ceremony of the project attended by other ministry top officials and tycoon Arifin Panigoro, founder of Medco Group, which co-owns AMNT.
Director General of Mineral and Coal at the ministry Bambang Gatot Ariyono said that the smelter, developed by AMNT?s subsidiary PT Amman Mineral Industri, will have a capacity of between 1 million-2 million tons per year. He added that the copper smelter is targeted to be completed in 2021.
Bambang previously said that AMNT, formerly known as PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, plans to invest a total of US$9 billion over the coming years including $1 billion for a copper smelter project, and the remaining for the development of its mines.
The government has required mining companies wishing to continue export of mineral concentrates such as copper concentrates produced by AMNT to put in place commitment to develop domestic smelters. The government will evaluate every six month the smelter project, and if no significant progress is made, the government will revoke their export permit.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in February issued export recommendation letter for AMNT valid for one year, with copper concentrates export quota of 675,000 tons.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak