Two Ministries Oversee Freeport Smelter Construction
7 August 2014 21:44 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government said that Freeport Indonesia's smelter construction will be monitored by both the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Ministry of Finance.
Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat said the US-based miner's US$2.5-billion project is expected to be completed in three years.
According to Hidayat, while waiting for construction to finish, Freeport will be allowed to resume its copper export for a duty of 7.5 percent, as the company and the government agreed. From Freeport's export, Hidayat estimated an additional state revenue of US$5 billion.
Bismar Bakhtiar, executive director of the Energy and Mining Law Study Center, said that smelter construction supervision is important. Based on previous experiences, mining companies tend to be reluctant in building smelters due to huge costs.
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