Antam?s FeNi III plant to resume operation

JSX-listed state miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) said its plant FeNi III would resume operation next month when its leakage was already completely fixed.

The company?s president director Deddy Aditya Sumanegara said that the fixing of the plant?s leaked metal tap hole, which forced the plant to halt operation in July of this year, was now almost completed.

?(The fixing) is in the final stage,? Deddy said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

On the repair funds, he said that Aneka Tambang proposed approximately US$8 million worth of loss claim.

On May, Antam said it had been notified by FeNi III EPC contractor that a leak from the metal tap hole of the smelter would require a shutdown for repairs lasting around three months. The metal tap hole is located at the bottom of the furnace, where molten crude ferronickel is extracted from the furnace during a ?metal tap?.

Antam expects to produce 13,000 ? 16,000 tonnes of nickel contained in ferronickel in 2006, from the target of 19,000 tonnes due to troubles in its FeNi III smelter.

Antam operates 3 units of smelters in Pomalaa, South East Sulawesi. (godang)