PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) continues to increase its production targets for gold and copper.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), in 2021 PTFI produced 1.37 million ounces of gold and 1.33 billion pounds of copper. Then in 2022, its production target increased to 1.59 million ounces of gold and 1.6 billion pounds of copper.
For 2023, the target has been further increased to 1.8 million ounces of gold and 1.7 billion pounds of copper.
"PTFI is optimistic that copper demand will be positive due to the increasing need for copper, following the abundance of renewable energy power plant projects," stated the Ministry of ESDM in its *Daily Strategic Information Review of Energy and Minerals, December 12, 2022*.
"In addition to boosting production, PTFI also has an agenda to oversee the project for the second copper concentrate refining and processing facility located in the Java Integrated and Industrial Port Estate (JIIPE) in Gresik, East Java, namely the Manyar Smelter. The progress of the Manyar Smelter project has reached 45%. It is expected to reach 50% by the end of this year," it continued.
The Ministry of ESDM revealed that the output of the Manyar Smelter is planned to be combined with the capacity of other operating copper smelters, namely PT Smelting.
Currently, PT Smelting has a copper concentrate processing capacity of 1 million tons per year. Later, after the Manyar Smelter is operational, PTFI is projected to be able to process 3 million tons of copper concentrate per year.
Until 2021, there were only 2 copper smelters in Indonesia. The government also plans to continue increasing the number of smelters to strengthen the downstreaming of the mining industry.