Nusantara Smelting eying extra copper supply from Chile

PT Nusantara Smelting Corporation is looking for the possibility of importing extra copper concentrate supply from Chile for its planned copper smelter as the expected local supply from PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara may not be sufficient, Kontan daily reported Friday.

President Director Melvin Korompis said that his company has been in discussions with several firms in Chile, but quickly added that the main supply will come from domestic miners.

Nusantara is planning to build a copper smelter either in East Java or East Kalimantan. The company is currently conducting the engineering details, with hope that construction can start at the end of 2014, and completed by the end of 2017.

The US$1.2 billion smelter will have the capacity to produce 200,000 tons of copper cathode per year, and will require copper concentrate as raw material of up to 800,000 tons. (*)