PT Inco resumes furnace operation
Tuesday, April 1 2003 - 11:09 AM WIB
?Furnace No. 3 came into operation on February 20, and it started operation at full capacity in March,? PT Inco?s director Andre C. Daenuwy told Petromindo.Com Tuesday.
Earlier, a company official said that with the third furnace coming into operation, the company is optimistic to reach its production target this year.
PT Inco, which is the subsidiary of Canada-based Inco Ltd., has planned to produce around 140 million pounds of nickel in matte this year, up from last year?s output of 131 million pounds.
The furnace functions to process laterite ore into nickel matte. PT Inco has four furnaces.
According to company 2002 financial report, the company allocated US$16 million to ?rebuild? the facilities. The ?rebuilding? contract was awarded to PT McConnell Dowell Indonesia.
The third furnace is powered by a 3-phase, 65-mega volt-ampere transformer to process around 15,816 tons of calcine per week. Calcine is ore which has been cleared of chemical water.
The company, which is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, is owned by Inco Limited of Canada (58.73 percent), Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. of Japan (20.09) and the public (20.0). (robert)