Bosowa to start construction of ferronickel smelter in March
Thursday, January 16 2014 - 03:42 AM WIB
The smelter will be situated on more than 60 hectares in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi, where the company has a 250-megawatt coal-based power plant to support its operations, Bosowa executive chief Erwin Aksa said.
?This is Bosowa?s positive response to the implementation of the 2009 Mining and Energy Law,? Erwin said.
The law originally required miners to export only processed forms of metals and minerals by Jan. 12 this year.But the government watered down the requirements on Sunday to allow three more years for mining companies to set up processing facilities in Indonesia.
Bosowa, which has a 1,000-hectare nickel-mining concession in Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, is one local company making moves to expand into the mineral processing business after the government announced the half-hearted mineral-ore policy.
Previously, Anglo-Swiss commodity giant Glencore Xstrata and Russia?s United Company Rusal, the world?s largest aluminum producer, expressed interest in investing billions of dollars in Indonesia?s smelting sector.
Erwin said Bosowa, through its subsidiary Bosowa Industri FeNi, plans to start building the smelter in the first half of 2014.
?God willing, the ground-breaking will be done in March,? Erwin said, adding that construction would take three years.
The smelter is set to produce 25,000 tons a year of ferronickel, a metal alloy used in making steel and cast iron.
According to data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, as cited by Bosowa, Indonesia has around 3.2 billion tons of nickel reserves, with the biggest deposits ? 1.2 billion tons ? located in the country?s eastern territories including Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.
Erwin said the smelter was expected to have a multiplier effect on economic development in the markedly underdeveloped eastern parts of Indonesia. (*)