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View all search resultsFreeport’s Gresik smelter halts operations for furnace repairs
In a bid to offset the processing gap, PTFI is accelerating preparations to restart its new smelter, which has been shut down since a fire in 2024.
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This handout photo taken and released on March 17, 2025, by the Presidential Palace shows an aerial view of the smelter facility operated by PT Freeport Indonesia. (AFP/Indonesian Presidential Palace)
P
T Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has temporarily suspended operations at its copper smelting facility in Gresik, East Java, which is operated by PT Smelting, following the discovery of operational issues requiring urgent furnace repairs, the company announced on Wednesday.
President director Tony Wenas confirmed that the company had received notification that operations at the facility were halted effective Aug. 8.
"The suspension was implemented to facilitate necessary furnace repairs," Tony told Bisnis.com on Wednesday. "Based on an initial assessment, repairs are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026."
The facility is PTFI’s first smelter, built in 1996 in partnership with a Japanese consortium. PTFI hold a 66 percent stake in the operator, Smelting, while Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Corp. controls the remaining 34 percent.
The facility boasts an annual production capacity of approximately 342,000 tonnes of copper cathode and processes copper concentrate from PTFI’s Grasberg mine in Papua.
Tony moved to reassure stakeholders that the temporary shutdown would not disrupt upstream operations.
"This temporary suspension does not impact Grasberg production," he said, adding that the company is currently evaluating the effect on the timing of previously projected sales realizations.
