Delta Prima?s smelter to resume operation in April

By Max Baggio

PT Delta Prima Steel, a producer of sponge iron and direct reduction iron (DRI), plans to resume operation in Aril of this year after stoppage of operation since August 2015 due to the lack of material supplies.

Company director Haykel Hubies said to Petromindo.com the firm is in the process of securing a mining area where it expects to collect iron ore, the raw material for its smelter in Tanah Laut, South Kalimantan province.

?The smelter is supposed to come back to operation soon, because we are in the process of securing permit from the Ministries of Environment and Forestry to use forestry areas which we consider have good potentials,? he said, adding the areas measure up to 139 hectares.

?The forest land use permit is supposed to be obtained in April of this year,? he said.

In August of last year, the smelter, which started operation in 2013, was forced to stop operation due to the lack of raw material supplies from the local government-owned firm and local miners. The local miners could not maintain sustainable supplies because they lack expertise and capital to buy own equipment. They lease mining equipment from third parties. Furthermore, the local government does not have data on the locations of iron resources there.

The smelter has a capacity to produce 100,000 tons of DRI per year.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon