State-owned nickel and gold mining firm PT Aneka Tambang (ANTM) targets the construction of an industrial park for battery ecosystem development to be realized in 2025. The industrial park referred to includes nickel smelters with high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) and rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF) technologies.
PT Antam’s President Director, Nico Kanter, said the company is part of the upstream industry in the battery development consortium conducted by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL). Therefore, Nico mentioned that the construction of smelters with RKEF and HPAL technologies must be carried out as soon as possible.
“CATL has its consortium, next year in its industrial park, we must build [smelters] RKEF and HPAL,” Nico said on Monday , March 25, 2024.
However, Nico said that they would not overlook the concept of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in the development of the industrial park. For instance, Nico stated that they are currently finalizing plans to use gas as energy for HPAL smelters.
“For HPAL, maybe some 60 MW will use gas, but we still need to carry out the feasibility study about its economy. However, the project will not diminish; it is still on track, and we aim for green nickel because ESG demands it as a necessity,” he said.
Antam has completed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) transaction for its subsidiaries, PT Sumberdaya Arindo (SDA) and PT Feni Haltim (FHT), with CATL HongKong CBL Limited (HKCBL) affiliates at the Ministry of Investment, Jakarta, last December.
The stock purchase in SDA and FHT marks the beginning of collaboration between Antam and CATL in the upstream mining sector and further refining and processing of nickel derivatives into battery cells in the Dragon project undertaken by the world’s electric battery manufacturer in Indonesia.
“The joint venture [JV] for the smelter, HPAL, precursor has actually been signed first, so it is integrated from upstream to downstream,” Deputy Investment and Mining at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Septian Hario Seto, in Jakarta, last December.
Seto said that Antam, along with Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), has held a JV Agreement with CATL for several projects downstream from the electric battery cooperation in the country.
He mentioned that the battery consortium is planning to realize investments in downstream factories for the construction of cathode plants, precursors, and battery cells after completing the SPA signing on the upstream side.
“The next stage is the downstream development , and there is already a timetable,” he said.
The investment allocation will be gradually absorbed over a period of 3 to 4 years according to the timeline for the implementation of the electric battery industry.
