Freeport Delivers First Shipment of Copper Concentrate to Its New Smelter
14 June 2024
On Thursday (14/6) PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) launched delivery of its first shipment of copper concentrate to its new smelter located in the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate (JIIPE) special economic zone (KEK) in Gresik, East Java Province, from Amamapare Port in Mimika Regency, Central Papua Province. The new PTFI smelter began operating in June 2024.
“The PTFI smelter in Gresik is now ready to begin operating and as such we launched delivery of our first shipment of copper concentrate to the new smelter. This is a momentous occasion for PTFI and Indonesia,” PTFI President Director Tony Wenas said on Friday (14/6).
The Mother Vessel (MV) Unitama Lily transported a total of 22,000 tons of copper concentrate, of which around 12,000 tons will be refined in the PTFI smelter, and 10,000 tons will be delivered to PT Smelting Gresik.
“This first shipment of copper concentrate to the new smelter is a momentous occasion for PTFI and for Indonesia, with all copper concentrate now set to be refined domestically, in realization of downstream activity as a foothold towards attaining the advancement of Indonesia,” Tony said.
Tony said the shipment of copper concentrate is the first supplies delivery made for the smelter that will soon begin operating. The shipment is expected to arrive at the PTFI Smelter Port in the JIIPE KEK on 22 July.
Upon its arrival at the port, the concentrate will be stored in a Concentrate Barn before undergoing a further process when the smelter enters the production stage in a Flash Smelting Furnace (FSF).
Overall, the concentrate will undergo three processes before it is transformed into sheets of copper cathode, with the processes consisting of material handling, smelting in the furnace, and refining in the electrorefinery.
“We will be running the smelter under a high operating standard and will comply with all government regulations. This is our commitment in support of the mineral downstreaming program established by the government,” Tony said.
The PTFI smelter is a copper concentrate refining facility located in the JIIPE KEK in Manyar, Gresik, East Java. Construction of the smelter was begun in October 2021, and was completed in accordance with the schedule determined by the government.
This second smelter belonging to PTFI is the biggest smelter in the world with a single line design, and will be able to refine copper concentrate with a production capacity of up to 1.7 million tons, once it is fully operational.
The smelter is equipped with a Refinery Unit, a Precious Metals Refinery, an Oxygen Unit, a Sulfuric Acis Unit, and a Wastewater Treatment Plant, towards maximizing utilization of raw materials, byproducts and wastes in order to attain high efficiency in the smelting and refining process..
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