Indonesia’s Antam-Freeport copper smelter set to miss deadline

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

(Reuters) – A copper smelter venture between diversified Indonesian miner Aneka Tambang (Antam) and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc may not be ready before a ban on concentrate exports takes effect in 2017, the state-owned firm said.

The two firms began studying the feasibility of a copper smelter project in January soon after Indonesia halted exports of unprocessed minerals and ruled that miners must refine metals domestically by 2017 as well as pay an escalating export tax that reaches 60 percent in 2016.