Antam, Hangzhou Jinjiang sign JVA to build $1b SGA plant

State controlled mining firm PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) Tbk announced Tuesday the signing of the first amended and restated joint venture agreement (JVA) with Hangzhou Jinjiang Group (HJG) of China to build a smelter grade alumina (SGA) plant in Mempawah, Pontianak regency, West Kalimantan province.

The JVA was signed in Jakarta by Antam?s president director Alwin Syah Loebis and HJG general manager Wang Yuan Luo. Also present during the ceremony were Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board of the Republic of Indonesia Gita Wirjawan, Antam said in a statement.

The SGA Mempawah plant will process 4 million wet metric tons (wmt) of bauxite ores to produce 1 million metric tons of alumina annually, it said.

Estimated project cost is US$1 billion. The joint venture ownership is envisioned as 49 percent for Antam and 51 percent for HJG with an option for Antam to become majority shareholder after three years of commercial operation.

Antam expects construction to start in 2011 with commercial operation in 2014.

Following the signing of the JVA, Antam and HJG will work toward due diligence of the project as well as selection of the EPC contractor and financing arrangements.

Smelter Grade Alumina is the raw material for aluminium, and is envisioned to supply domestic. (denny)