Freeport asked to build new smelting plant

An inter-governmental team on PT Freeport Indonesia has called for the construction of a new smelting plant in order to enable Indonesia to get more added value from the company's copper production, Kompas reported on Thursday.

The call was part of the recommendations issued by the team which was established in March 2006 to evaluate the company's gold and copper mining activities in Timika, Papua province.

"The spirit is that we need to get more added value from the operation of Freeport in Papua," MS Marpaung, the director for mining at the ministry of energy and mineral resources said in Jakarta on Wednesday about the idea behind the proposed construction of new smelting plant.

PT Freeport generally sells approximately one-half of its concentrate production to its affiliated smelters, Atlantic Copper in Spain and PT Smelting in Gresik, and the remainder to other customers.

PT Freeport has long-term contracts to provide approximately 60 percent of Atlantic Copper?s copper concentrate requirements at market prices and nearly all of PT Smelting?s copper concentrate requirements.

Freeport holds a 25 percent in PT Smelting. The smelter treated about 908,900 metric tons of concentrate in 2005.

Commenting on the request, Freeport's spokesman Sidharta Moersyid said that the company would carry out activities in accordance with its contract of works. "In think the request is part of the obligation ( stated in the contract) to give a priority on the domestic market," he said. (*)