Inalum sets up research, innovation institute

State-owned mining holding company PT Inalum inaugurated on Friday a new research and innovation institute called Mining and Minerals Industry Institute (or MMII).

 

Inalum said in a statement that MMII will help accelerate the development mining downstream industry in Indonesia to allow the country to generate greater added value from its mineral resources.

 

MMII functions to support Inalum and other mining and mineral industry stakeholders in the country in the development of technology, increasing competency of human resources, and formulate policy recommendations for the government.

 

MMII has a vision to become a leading research and development institute in the world specifically in the mining and mineral and energy-based industries.

 

Also on Friday, MMII signed MOUs on research cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources? Research and Development Agency, and with leading universities in the country including University of Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Gadjah Mada University (UGM), ITS, and Cendrawasih University.

 

MMII has also set up cooperation with US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiatives (MITEI) in research for low carbon clean energy technology, and sustainable mining.

 

Set up in 2017, Inalum is the holding company for a number of state-controlled mining firms including PT Aneka Tambang Tbk, PT Bukit Asam Tbk, PT Timah Tbk, and PT Freeport Indonesia.

 

This year, Inalum will focus on a number of projects including a smelter to process bauxite ores into alumina in West Kalimantan in cooperation with Aneka Tambang, the processing of coal into gas and derivative products with PT Bukit Asam, the development of copper smelter by PT Freeport, and looking into possibility of processing nickel into key materials for the production batteries, the statement said.

 

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak