Freeport discussing 30% expansion at Gresik in place of new Indonesia smelter

Freeport-McMoRan has proposed expanding its existing copper smelter at Gresik in Indonesia by 30% and adding a precious metals refinery in place of constructing an entirely new smelter nearby.

The chief executive officer of the US copper producer said this option was attractive to the government of Indonesia as an alternative to undertaking a major construction project during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"An alternative would be, rather than building a new smelter, to expand the existing Gresik smelter and adding a precious metals refinery to it," Richard Adkerson said during a conference call for the company's third-quarter earnings.
"That [smelter] could not be expanded to take all of our future concentrate production, so there would have to be an agreement allowing us to export the excess," Adkerson said.

Adkerson noted...

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