Bintan Alumina to build smelter

By Sonar Sihombing

Bauxite miner PT Bintan Alumina plans to start building smelting plant in Bintan, Riau Islands province, in the year end.

"The development will start with the construction of a port. We hope to start building the smelter at the beginning of 2014 ," PT Bintan Alumina Director Zulnahar Usman said.

Zulnahar is also secretary general of the newly-launched Regional Mining Association (Asperda).

He said that the company has secured 40 percent of the total 2,000 hectares needed to build the smelter.

The planned smelter is expected to produce about 2 million tons of alumina per year which will require raw material of bauxite about 5-6 million tons.

?We have 100 million tons of bauxite resources," he said, adding that the company currently produces about 300,000 tons per month

Editing by Adianto P. Simamora