Antam boosts nickel ore sales to domestic smelters

By Ruli Setiawan

IDX-listed mining company PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) said that sales volume of nickel ores to domestic smelters jumped to 644,125 wet metric tons as per the first semester of this year, compared to 46,751 wmt last year, when the company started selling the ores in the domestic market following a government policy early in 2014 banning the export raw mineral commodities.

Antam said in a statement Monday that aside from helping to meet rising domestic demand as more nickel smelter projects have been completed, the domestic sales also provided extra revenue for the company.

Antam has nickel reserves and resources totaling 988.30 million wmt, comprising of 580.20 million wmt of high purity nickel ores, and 408.10 million wmt of low purity ores, according to Competent Person Report per December 31, 2015, which complies with the JORC 2012 Edition of the ?Australian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.?

Antam said that its entire nickel ore reserves and resources are enough to support the company?s long-term business plan and operation. It added that Antam has the capacity to supply the entire nickel ores requirement of domestic smelters.

Antam is currently in the process of developing of a ferronickel plant in Halmahera Timur, North Maluku, which is projected to be completed in 2018.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak