Antam names Finnish firm to conduct feasibility study

State owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) has named Finnish company Outotec Oyj to conduct a feasibility study for the company?s plan to build a smelter grade alumina plant in the country, Kontan reported on Thursday.

The agreement on the appointment of the Finnish company was signed by Antam's President Director Alwin Syah Lubis and Outotec Oyj?s Chief Executive Officer Pertti Korhonen in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"We will conduct a comparative study. Outotec will recommend the technology which can be applied by Antam,? Alwin said.

As part of its expansion program, Antam plans to build a smelter grade alumina plant in Menpawah, West Kalimantan, with initial investment of about US$1 billion.

Indonesia is in need of alumina smelter plants. At present, Indonesia exports bauxite, raw material for alumina. After being processed into alumina in overseas smelter plants, the alumina then is imported back into Indonesia.

Editing by Roffie Kurniawan