Antam seeks partners to jointly develop new smelter

State-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) is seeking new partners to jointly develop and operate its FeNi IV smelter, which will be built in Buli, East Halmahera in North Maluku.

?We have completed the feasibility study of the new smelter. We are now looking for partners in the project,? Antam?s director for development Tato Miraza said in Jakarta on Monday.

Tato said that the company had not decided the percentage of the shares of the new smelter to be offered to strategic partners. ?But, for sure, we will become a majority shareholder in the project,? he said.

The US$1.8 billion smelter which is expected to begin 2011 is scheduled for completion in 2014, he added.

Last week, Antam said that it would begin the acceleration of the optimisation of the FeNi III smelter in South East Sulawesi to middle of May 2009, instead of July 2009 as previously planned.

Antam?s ferronickel production target in 2009 is about 12,000 tonnes nickel contained in ferronickel. Beside FeNi III, Antam operates two smaller smelters called FeNi I and FeNi II (*)