ASIATODAY.ID, KOLAKA – One of the best environmentally friendly nickel mining industries will soon operate in Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi.
By using clean energy sourced from PLN, the ‘Merah Putih’ PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama (Ceria Group) smelter is ready to produce green nickel products which will be absorbed by the global market.
As a Domestic Investment company, Ceria Group, which has the status of a National Strategic Project and National Vital Object as determined by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, is currently in the final stages of commissioning the ‘Merah Putih’ Smelter Rectangular Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF), and preparation for High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) construction.

This National Strategic Project is expected to become one of the barometers for the downstreaming of nickel commodities as mandated by President Prabowo Subianto in Presidential Decree of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1 of 2025 concerning the Task Force for the Acceleration of Downstreaming and National Energy Resilience to implement national development priorities in accordance with Asta Cita in accelerating the downstreaming of natural resources and to realize national energy independence and security.
It is not surprising that the Ceria group’s National Strategic Project is now receiving full attention and supervision from the government, to ensure that the Ceria National Strategic Project runs according to target and without obstacles.
The Regional Secretary of Southeast Sulawesi Province, Asrun Lio, said that the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Government really appreciates and thanks the management of PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama who have worked seriously and proven that Ceria has truly carried out its responsibilities and mandate as a Strategic Project. National.

“We are all grateful for the contribution that Ceria has made to society, where thousands of people from various levels and ethnic groups in Indonesia are now working at Ceria,” said Asrun Lio, while reviewing the progress of the Ceria Nugraha Indotama ‘Merah Putih’ Smelter National Strategic Project in Wolo District, Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, Wednesday, January 23 2025.
According to Asrun Lio, the progress of the National Strategic Project for the ‘Merah Putih’ Ceria smelter is very significant and is currently nearing completion. He is also optimistic that the RKEF Ceria smelter will be fully operational in April 2025.
Referring to the report on the results of the review of the governance of the National Strategic Project for the construction of the PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama Smelter in the fourth quarter of 2024 with a progress cut off as of 22 November 2024 carried out by the Southeast Sulawesi Province Representative Financial and Development Supervisory Agency, it is stated that the construction of the PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama Smelter has been carried out since 2019 – 2024 still under construction with progress reaching 97.05%. The realization of target achievements is measured based on 13 indicators including; Project preparation, land provision, spatial planning, project funding, government guarantees, licensing/non-licensing, prioritizing domestic components, physical development, project supervision and control, project regulations, job creation and utilization.

Apart from the progress of the smelter construction, on that occasion, Asrun Lio also appreciated the Ceria Group smelter’s use of clean energy sourced from the Bakaru Hydroelectric Power Plant (in the PLN transmission network) which was declared with a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC).
He also witnessed firsthand the existence of the Barge Mounted Power Plant (BMPP) with a capacity of 2 x 60 MW which was docked at the Wolo Special Terminal. Meanwhile, this BMPP is connected to the PLN Kolaka network to maintain the reliability and stability of the Ceria Group smelter’s electricity.
Meanwhile, the Acting Regent of Kolaka, Muh Fadliansyah, said that Ceria is one of the best national mining industries in Kolaka district which has utilized 100 percent of its workforce from the best Indonesian women.
“Ceria has made a big contribution to Kolaka Regency. “In fact, currently all the people in Wolo have been absorbed as workers in the company,” he said.
According to Fadliansyah, by seeing the progress of the ‘Merah Putih’ smelter which is almost complete, he hopes that the RKEF Ceria smelter can start operating soon.
“We pray that the Ceria smelter will operate quickly so that it will create more job opportunities and support regional economic growth,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Deputy President Director who is also the Director of Corporate Affairs, Djen Rizal, explained that the ‘Merah Putih’ Ceria Smelter was built by domestic investors with funding from the National Banking Syndicate led by PT Bank Mandiri Tbk and Bank SulselBar and BJB.
“The ‘Merah Putih’ Smelter is Ceria’s commitment to implementing the Government’s Downstreaming Program to provide more added value in the country as mandated in President Prabowo Subianto’s 5th and 6th Asta Cita, namely continuing the Downstreaming and Growth program, Economic Equity, Poverty Eradication towards “Golden Indonesia 2045,” he said.
Djen Rizal explained that the intention of the entire Ceria management, led by the best sons and daughters, was to build an industry based on downstreaming, going through a struggle that was not easy. Starting with Ground Breaking for the smelter construction in the middle of the fourth quarter of 2019, then getting funding at the end of the first quarter of 2022 by the National Banking syndicate and now racing to achieve the target of completing the smelter construction by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
“We still have a long way to go, for this reason we really hope for the support of stakeholders at the provincial, district and of course communities around the mine,” he added. (AT Network)
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