Update: Antam considers up to $150 million bond issue

State nickel and gold miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) said on Tuesday it may issue US$100-150 million bonds this year to help fund a long-delayed ferro-nickel project on Sulawesi island, Reuters reported.

"We are looking at around $100-150 million," spokesman Dohar Siregar told Reuters.

Siregar said Antam has invited some potential underwriters to submit proposals on the bond plan. He declined to give details.

Antam is expected to have a final decision on the financing scheme before a shareholders meeting scheduled on June 26.

The state-run firm has changed its financing scheme for the project several times. Last month it said it would use loans from Indonesia's largest bank, Bank Mandiri, combined with internal cashflows, to fund the project.

"The idea is to create the best mix of debt financing. The current appetite for corporate bonds is quite strong," another Antam's spokesman, Cameron Tough, told Reuters.

Antam plans to build its third ferro-nickel smelter, which was estimated to cost $230 million, and Mandiri has agreed to provide up to $150 million. Antam had said in the past that the balance would come from the miner's cashflow.

The new smelter, called FeNi III, would boost Antam's ferro-nickel output to 25,000 tonnes a year from the current 11,000 tonnes.(*)