PT Freeport Indonesia, the leading mining company in Indonesia, signed an agreement on high-purity industrial gas with PT Linde Indonesia on July 20, 2022. Linde will invest over US$100 million to build, own and operate the air separation unit (ASU) on the Manyar smelter plant in Gresik, East Java, to supply oxygen and nitrogen.
Linde, which was established in 1971, focuses its specialty on industrial gases offering a wide range of equipment, pipelines, plants and engineering services. Other services include chemical & energy, food & beverages, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and mining. Currently, it has eight plants in Java as of 2022. The company’s industrial gases offer life-saving oxygen and high-purity gases for electronic manufacturing and hydrogen.
Freeport sought investments from Linde to build an ASU for one of its newest copper smelters and refinery in Manyar with a value of US$100 million. Manyar smelter is a copper smelting factory that processes copper concentrates from Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Timika, Papua. The Grasberg mine is one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits. The construction will start in mid-2024 and it will be one of the largest ASU units in Indonesia. The ASU will deliver significant energy efficiency that would be used in smelting copper which is part of the process to produce copper cathodes.
Vinayak Kembhavi, President Director of Linde Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam, said in a press statement: “We are excited to support Freeport Indonesia in the expansion of its processing capacity.”
Linde looked forward to Freeport as the world-leading project in its role in copper and electrification and industrial processes, he added.
“Linde’s proven track record of a safe and reliable supply of industrial gases made it our partner of choice for the expansion of our operations,” Freeport Indonesia President Director Tony Wenas said.
The project will be Linde’s third major investment in Indonesia’s copper smelting industry after its investment in the expansion of oxygen capacity in Gresik.
