Antam cuts ferronickel production target on smelter leak

JSX-listed state nickel and gold miner PT Antam Tbk reduced its 2007 ferronickel production target to 16,000 tonnes from 20,000 tonnes as it would only be able to complete repair of its FeNi III smelter in the first week of September.

The company said in a Wednesday release that the figure did not include toll smelting, which may be able to supplement volume of production by 400 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes depending on the outcome of negotiations for third party toll smelting arrangements.

The cause of the metal leak which occurred in June 17 is at this point inconclusive as Antam, the designer, the contractor and other expert advisors continue to study the data, the company said. (alex)