On May 22 (Thursday), copper miner Freeport Indonesia announced that its US$3.7 billion Manyar smelter in East Java, which had been shut down due to a fire last year, had resumed operations ahead of schedule and was expected to commence production in the fourth week of June.
Chief Executive Officer Tony Wenas stated in a Thursday announcement that the smelter is expected to operate at full capacity by December.
A major fire broke out at the smelter in October last year. Wenas noted that repair work was completed ahead of schedule.
In March this year, the Indonesian government granted a six-month permit to Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc, to export 1.27 million mt of copper concentrates, easing the nationwide ban on the export of unprocessed copper.
