Freeport asked to cooperate with smelting firms

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has asked copper and gold mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia to cooperate with smelting firms in order to meet the government?s requirement to process their copper and gold concentrates in the country, Investor Daily reported.

The ministry?s director general of mineral and coal, Thamrin Sihite said in Jakarta on Thursday that Freeport might cooperate with Nusantara Smelting and Indosmelt to process its copper and gold concentrates.

?The two companies plan to build smelters but have not yet found suppliers for their plants,? he said.

In line with the Law No 9, 2004 on mineral and coal, beginning in 2014, the government will no longer allow exports of unprocessed minerals. The raw minerals should be processed at local smelters before being exported.

Freeport has said that it has processed a half of its copper and gold concentrates at PT Smelting Gresik in East Java. The other parts of the copper and gold concentrates are exported to meet long-term contract with smelters overseas.

Freeport, which has a 25 percent stake in PT Smelting, said that building a new smelter would not be economically feasible for the company. (*)