ASIATODAY.ID, KOLAKA – Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia Arifin Tasrif appreciated the progress of the construction of the nickel smelter project belonging to PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama (Ceria) in Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi.
Arifin revealed that the Ceria nickel smelter project is one of the National Strategic Projects (PSN) which is included in Presidential Regulation Number 109 of 2020 concerning the Third Amendment to Presidential Decree Number 3 of 2016 concerning the Acceleration of Implementation of National Strategic Projects.
“I see the physical progress of the smelter project from Ceria. We hope that mechanical completion can be completed in October and commissioning at the end of this year,” he said, Tuesday, July 2 2024.
The smelter project in question is a smelter with rectangular Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) technology, which in the initial stages built 1 production line (1 x 72 MVA) to process saprolite nickel ore, and in the future four production lines (4 MVA) in stages with a production capacity of 252,700 tons per year.
The smelter will later receive electricity supply from PT. PLN (Persero) with a total capacity of 414 MVA (352 MW) has agreed to an Electricity Purchase Agreement (PJBTL), the electricity supply of which will begin to be distributed in stages this year.
Furthermore, Arifin emphasized that the government hopes that mineral refining industry players can develop an ecosystem for the final product of electrification, because Indonesia has very valuable mineral resources.
“We have to anticipate how this domestic industry can develop, our dream of electrification can be achieved, this nickel is of course in the NCM (Nickel Cobalt Manganese) battery shaft, we have nickel, then our limonet also has significant cobalt content, “Then we still have manganese sources in East Nusa Tenggara, so this is what we have to integrate,” added Minister Arifin.
Meanwhile, Ceria Group CEO Derian Sakmiwata revealed that the RKEF Ceria line 1 smelter will operate in the next two to three months.
“The size of the furnace is 72 MVA, which will later input raw minerals amounting to 1.4 million metric tons per year at a grade of 1.59,” he explained.
Derian said that the RKEF was the first step and Ceria still had a target of building 4 RKEF lines which would be built in stages. Ceria will also build a smelter with HPAL (High Pressure Acid Leaching) technology and all Ceria industrial activities are guided by Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) principles.
“Currently, Ceria is also active in implementing IRMA (Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance). This is Ceria’s way of upgrading its operational patterns to pay more attention to environmental and social aspects in more detail to prevent historical dangers that could happen again and prevent future dangers. what will happen,” he said.
First Smelter with Domestic Investors
Ceria’s nickel ore refining facility project is the first Indonesian smelter project funded by national banking, namely PT. Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk.
Minister Arifin said that this was the first funding project financed by national banks, and the government continues to try to facilitate banking institutions to fund smelter projects and other energy sectors.
“This may be the first financing project that has been carried out, but there are many more national financial opportunities that we can see and support, especially in the oil and gas industry. “Because the government is boosting energy infrastructure, as well as downstream programs in processing our mineral resources,” he explained.
Arifin said the Government has a vision to encourage and accelerate the downstream process. Completion of a number of downstream projects is being encouraged so that they can be completed at the specified time, so that industry in Indonesia can grow and develop, and will increase the added value of mineral derivative products.
“We want the products we produce to have high added value, therefore we need a smelter to be able to encourage development and the national economy,” explained Arifin.
On the same occasion, Bank Mandiri President Director Darmawan Junaidi said that the Ceria smelter project was indeed the first project to be financed by domestic investors and Bank Mandiri supports this project will be completed well and in accordance with the specified targets.
“We see Ceria’s sincerity in completing this project, including getting the energy needed and electricity supplied by PLN and God willing, the plan will run smoothly,” he concluded. (AT Network)
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