Minister reviews progress of Freeport smelter construction in Gresik

Gresik (ANTARA) - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tasrif, reviewed the progress of the Freeport smelter’s construction in the Java Integrated and Industrial Port Estate (JIIPE) area, Manyar, Gresik district, East Java, on Friday.

During the visit, the minister also reviewed the location of the 100-hectare project. He was accompanied by the president director of PT Freeport Indonesia, Tony Wenas.

"I see the progress is measurable, and now it has reached 34.9 percent, with the cost already spent more than US$1 billion. It is targeted that by the end of this year, the progress can reach 50 percent," Tasrif said in Gresik on Friday.

The government will continue to encourage the acceleration of development, he said. Among the efforts made to this end include the formulation of regulations regarding mining as well as regarding the necessity of downstreaming, he added.

"We hope that by the second quarter of 2023, the construction will be completed," he said.

Meanwhile, Wenas said that the current development progress is quite good, and has exceeded the target of 34.9 percent.

By the end of 2022, the progress of the Freeport smelter construction can reach 50 percent, with the cost reaching around US$1.5 billion.

"For now, what we have done is that several pailings (pile foundations) have been installed, reaching 11 thousand of the total 16 thousand pailing or 65 percent, with pouring reaching 20 thousand cubic meters from the total plan of around 220 thousand cubic meters," he informed.

Development activities have been carried out intensively until now with contractor company PT Ciyoda International Indonesia (CII), which focuses on land compaction. The work is being assisted by Adhi Karya as well as several other local contractors.

He is targeting to complete the physical construction of the Freeport smelter by the end of 2022, which will not only include the Manyar smelter , but also cover the expansion of PTY Smelting. whose capacity will be boosted by 300 thousand tons.

"We plan to start production in May 2024," Wenas said.

While constructing the Freeport smelter in Gresik, he encountered a major challenge on the ground, namely the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted work due to the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).

However, through mutually agreed rescheduling, the smelter project is now back on track.

"We believe that this project will be able to be completed according to the target, although the schedule is quite tight, in accordance with what was agreed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources," he affirmed.