"This afternoon, I hereby inaugurate the precious metal refining plant of PT Freeport Indonesia in Gresik, East Java," he said at the inauguration ceremony.
He then emphasized the importance of the smelter for refining concentrates into precious metals such as gold and silver.
"This is important for our country. We want Indonesia to be able to sell finished goods with added value, not only raw materials," he said.
Based on the information gathered, the PMR factory has the capacity to produce up to 52 tons of gold per year.
The factory will process 6 thousand tons of anode mud per year to reach the production figure. Anode mud is a by-product of copper concentrate processing.
Prabowo noted that the Freeport Indonesia smelter in Gresik is believed to be the largest precious metal refining factory in the world, especially in terms of processing from upstream to downstream.
The head of state then thanked Freeport Indonesia and Freeport McMoran, which have been operating in Indonesia for more than 50 years. He lauded Freeport McMoran for its contribution to building the nation.
"In my opinion, Freeport is an example of a responsible and good corporation. Now they prove it by practicing downstreaming in Indonesia," he said.
At the inauguration ceremony, the President was accompanied by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bahlil Lahadalia; Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), Erick Thohir; the president director of PT Freeport Indonesia, Tony Wenas; and East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa.
After the smelter inauguration, Prabowo was scheduled to fly to Sidoarjo to simultaneously inaugurate 17 stadiums nationwide from the Gelora Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo.
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Translator: Genta Tenri M, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Primayanti
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