Newmont ready to supply copper concentrate to PTI

JAKARTA. Gold miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PT NNT) has committed to supplying copper concentrate to PT Indosmelt (PTI) to process it into high purity copper metal for industrial purposes.

“After we signed a conditional sales purchase agreement [CSPA] with PT Nusantara Smelting [PT NS], today we signed a similar agreement with PTI,” said PT NNT president director Martiono Hadianto in a press release on Thursday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Earlier, PTI announced a plan to build a copper smelter in Indonesia.

“We believe the CSPA is the best way out for all parties – the smelting company, PT NNT and the government,” said Martiono, referring to the 2009 Mining Law, which bans the exportation of raw mineral ores and stipulates that they must be processed locally before being exported.

“We want to show our commitment to supporting the government’s policy by becoming a copper concentrate supplier for domestic smelters in the future,” said Martiono.

PTI president director Natsir Mansyur said that with the signing of the CSPA, his company could move forward with its plan to develop a smelter in Indonesia.

“We believe that after we received PT NNT’s readiness, we will be able to complete the smelter construction in 2017-2018,” Natsir said.

“A partnership with a raw material supplier such as PT NNT is a first step that is important for the implementation of the project,” he went on.

PT NNT agreed to supply copper concentrate to PT NS under the CSPA signed on Nov.27. (Jakarta Post)