Bumi teams up with Chinese firm to build smelter
Saturday, July 6 2013 - 03:37 AM WIB
Nickel mining company Bumi Makmur Selaras (BMS) will team up with Chinese business group Hanking Group to build and operate a smelting plant which will process nickel ore into ferronickel, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Saturday.
The two companies? joint venture would invest about US$500 million to build the smelter in Southeast Sulawesi with an initial capacity of 20,000 tons a year, the president director of BMS, Tadjudin Hidayat said following a meeting with Industry Minister MS Hidayat on Friday.
He said that the processing capacity of the smelter, which is expected to begin commercial operation in May 2014, could be increased to 60,000 tons.
?At present, the construction is underway. The company has so far invested about $150 million,? he said, adding that the total investment would reach $500 million including funds for the construction of a power plant. (*)