TEMPO.CO, Banjarbaru - President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), Tony Wenas, revealed that repairing the copper smelter that caught fire at Freeport Indonesia's facility in Gresik, East Java, required an investment of US$120 million.
"The repair of the burned smelter costs around US$ 120 million, but it is covered by insurance," said Tony Wenas to Tempo during the National Seminar on Environmental Day, held under the theme "Organizing the Future of Indonesian Mangroves: Collaboration of Science, Action, and Policy to End Plastic Waste," at Lambung Mangkurat University in Banjarbaru City on Monday, June 2, 2025.
After suffering a major fire in one of its units in October 2024, the smelter resumed operations and began producing copper cathodes by the end of June 2025. For the initial stage, Tony stated that production is targeted at 40 percent of full capacity. He further projected that output would increase by 10 percent each month until reaching full capacity by the end of the year.
"The smelter in Gresik has started operating again, two weeks ago. The smelter will start producing copper cathodes in about two weeks," Tony added.
He set the goal of reaching full operations by December 2025. "Start production again in June at 40 percent, increase by 10 percent each month. In November, it will increase by 20 percent, so 100 percent in December 2025," said Tony Wenas.
The fire broke out at 5:45 PM local time on Monday, October 14, 2024, at the Clean Gas Separation Facility within the Java Integrated Industrial and Ports Estate (JIIPE) Special Economic Zone in Gresik. The facility is critical in filtering harmful substances, such as sulfur dioxide (SO), from exhaust gases to ensure clean air emissions.
"This facility also provides clean gas for the conversion process into sulfuric acid, preventing corrosion and damage to equipment from corrosive gases," Tony explained in a Freeport Indonesia press release dated October 15, 2024.
"In general, this Clean Gas Separation Facility plays a crucial role in environmentally friendly operations," he added.
Tony also noted that by early 2024, Freeport had completed the smelter’s commissioning, carried out multiple test phases, and undergone a trial-and-error process that began in June of that year. He described the incident as a tragedy.
"We are reviewing the entire process to prevent a recurrence throughout the smelter area. We continue to work with Chiyoda as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Contractor to review all aspects in detail involving experts from Freeport Indonesia, Freeport-McMoRan, and some of our consultants," he said.
The fire occurred just weeks after former President Joko Widodo inaugurated the smelter on September 23, 2024.
Freeport Indonesia invested Rp56 trillion in constructing the facility, which is designed to process 1.7 million tons of copper concentrate from Papua. The expected output includes 900 thousand tons of copper cathodes, approximately 50 tons of gold, and 210 tons of silver.
Editor’s Choice: Bahlil Claims Freeport's Gresik Smelter Can Produce 60 Tons of Gold Bars Annually
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