By Deden Sudrajat and I Made Sentana
JAKARTA, Indonesia--PT Freeport Indonesia Thursday signed a
preliminary agreement with PT Petrokimia Gresik to build a copper
smelter in East Java.
The move came after Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources
Minister Sudirman Said said Tuesday the government would ban the
local unit of mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc. from shipping
copper concentrate outside Indonesia after Jan. 24.
Maruf Syamsuddin, chief executive of Freeport Indonesia, said
the company would invest US$2.3 billion to build a smelter with an
annual processing capacity of 2 million metric tons.
"I'm reiterating that the company remains committed [to build
the smelter]," Mr. Saymsuddin said.
In January 2014, Indonesia slapped an export ban on raw minerals
to keep the lucrative refining business in Indonesia.
But they allowed Freeport Indonesia to resume exports of copper
concentrates after the miner agreed to pay export taxes and
promised to build a smelter in Indonesia.
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