RELEASE: Antam begins construction phase of nickel expansion

PT Antam Tbk is pleased to announce that today is the effective date contract (EDC) for the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract relating to the construction of its ferronickel expansion project FeNi III. The EDC occurred after certain conditions precedent were met and signifies the formal start of the construction phase of the company?s FeNi III smelter. The FeNi III project is to be built by an unincorporated consortium of Mitsui Co Ltd Japan and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Construction on the smelter is expected to last 28 months and commercial production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2006 after 3 months of commissioning. The Feni III project is expected to more than double Antam?s nickel in ferronickel capacity from 11,000 tonnes to 26,000 tonnes per year.

The Feni III project includes investment in both the new smelter and power plant and has an estimated cost of between USD320-USD330 million. Funding for the project is expected to be financed with the proceeds from the issuance on September 30, 2003 of USD200 million notes by Antam?s Mauritius-based subsidiary Antam Finance Ltd, a USD60 million bilateral loan to be obtained from a domestic bank and the company?s internal cash.

For further information contact: Dohar Siregar, Corporate Secretary, Tel: (62-21)7805119, email: corsec@antam.com. (*)