Indonesia is said to have a potential treasure trove of rare earth metals with estimated reserves of around 300,000 tons. This was revealed by Yoseph C.A Swamidharma, Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Geologists (IAGI), in a presentation of research results in the form of a graph.
According to the presentation, China leads as the world’s largest producer of rare earth metals, with reserves estimated at 44 million tons. Brazil and Russia follow with reserves of about 20 million tons each, and Australia is believed to have reserves of 5 million tons.
Although Indonesia currently has reserves of rare earth metals of around 300,000 tons, Yoseph mentioned that this potential could continue to grow with further exploration.
“Regarding concentration, 200,000 tons are in Bangka Belitung, the rest are in Kalimantan. There are also 400 tons in Sulawesi. If we want to start, we can. It’s better to start there,” said Yoseph on September 18, 2023.
According to him, relevant institutions, including the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), should conduct further exploration. He also encouraged geological experts to deepen their activities in rare earth metals to ensure that Indonesia’s mineral reserves inventory continues to grow.
“In Indonesia, the focus has been primarily on five minerals: iron, nickel, copper, bauxite, and tin. So, rare earth metals have been neglected in terms of exploration,” Yoseph noted.
Widi Astuti, a Senior Researcher in the field of Metallurgy at BRIN, stated that rare earth metal processing technology is not complex. Indonesia’s human resources are highly capable of managing and utilizing rare earth metals domestically.
“From the beginning, we tried to process it with a relatively long process involving 32 steps, but we have already reduced some steps. It’s not too difficult because the processes are quite similar to each other,” explained Widi.
She also highlighted that rare earth metals are essential for supporting the government’s industrial downstreaming programs, especially in the development of electric vehicle batteries.
