Australia sees investment opportunity in RI mining smelters

By Bambang Atmaja

The government of Indonesia?s plan to ban the export of mineral ores starting next year provides a huge investment opportunity for Australian companies to build smelters here, said a top official of Australian trade representative.

Trade and Investment Commissioner of Australian Trade Commission in Indonesia Juliane Merriman said that Australian companies have the necessary capacity to build and operate smelters, and are hoping to partner with Indonesian companies.

?I think it is an opportunity for Australian companies, because we are actually very skilled in developing process minerals. It is actually an investment opportunity for Australian companies to partner with Indonesian companies to look at developing process facilities here,? she told Petromindo.com on Thursday.

As mandated by the Mining Law No 4/2009, the government plans to ban the export of mineral ores starting January 12, 2014, requiring miners to build domestic smelters to process the ores in a bid to generate greater value added for the country. Miners can also supply the ores to other parties investing in the required smelters.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak