MIND ID claims that Freeport Indonesia will fix its smelter within six months

Freeport Indonesia’s holding company MIND ID announced on Wednesday that it aims to have the new Manyar Smelter, located in East Java Province, repaired within six month after being damaged by fire.

Freeport Indonesia stopped the production of copper cathodes at its smelter in October after an explosion at its gas cleaning unit.

The Manyar smelter's production delays, which accounted for 480,000 tons of cathode copper a year in output, had already reduced the expected surplus of metal in 2025 and supported prices.

Hendi Santoso (CEO of Mining Industry Indonesia, MIND ID) told a parliamentary committee: "We hope for your support." MIND ID owns 51.2% of Freeport Indonesia.

He said, "Hopefully it will be operating normally in less than six month."

The copper smelter in Manyar, worth $3.7 billion, was finished in June. Production began in September. A steam and water leak caused a delay in production until November.

Mining minister Bahlil Lahadalia said that Freeport had asked the Indonesian government for an extension of its copper concentrate export license, which expires in 2024.

He said that the government has not yet decided whether or not to approve the request.

After the fire, sources with knowledge of the situation said that U.S. miner Freeport McMoRan would delay the sale of refined copper to Indonesia until the second half of 2025. (Reporting and editing by John Mair, Saad Sayeed, and Bernadette Cristina)

(source: Reuters)