Big guts

RMBANTEN.COM – Disway – This giant project seems likely to be completed before the change of president. This is indeed a historic project. It is natural that those who make history inaugurate it. So with time added time for his presidency, Jokowi visited Gresik, East Java. He inaugurated the Freeport foundry there: the investment amounted to IDR 56,000 billion.

It was last September 23.

It was only three months later that a surprising disaster occurred: one part of the foundry caught fire. Namely the part which transforms CO2 into non-polluting substances.

Result: the entire copper and gold refining process in Gresik stopped. The burned part itself is actually only a small part. It's as if the exhaust system is broken and the expensive Ferrari can no longer drive.

The burned part may only be worth less than IDR 50 billion. But because it caught fire, the IDR 56 trillion investment was also abandoned. There is no greater sadness for entrepreneurs.

The Freeport Indonesia smelter in Gresik exploded on Monday, October 14, 2024 afternoon.-screenshot X@AlwiHusin-

Of course this part can be improved. Or if the fire is serious, all motors can be replaced. Especially if it's still under warranty. Maybe it hasn't even been delivered yet. This remains the responsibility of the contractor. Not yet submitted to the project owner: Freeport.

Although this was a direct loss to the contractor, Freeport also suffered a significant loss. Production is delayed.

In fact, the Gresik foundry will produce 50 tonnes of gold, 900,000 copper cathodes and 210 tonnes of silver each year.

The latest news is that Freeport must stop production until September 2025. That's a long time. This represents a delay of almost a year.

The difficulty in pursuing the goal so that it can be inaugurated at the end of President Jokowi's term does not appear to have any connection with the fire.

Freeport is an American company. Management is American style. The technology comes from the United States. It is impossible for Freeport to be careless and willing to sacrifice the project just to move forward with the inauguration.

This foundry covers an area of ​​104 hectares. The location is in an industrial zone belonging to the Aneka Kimia Raya (AKR) group. You certainly have frequent contact with AKR. Especially if you're filling up with gas. AKR has many gas stations.

The industrial zone, JIIPE, covers an area of ​​1,500 hectares. JIIPE has its own port. In the Kamal Strait. Overlooking Madura Island. Freeport needs a big port. Freeport must import copper concentrate from the port of Timika, Papua.

The concentrate comes from soil containing copper, tin and gold. Once the soil elements are cleaned, it becomes a concentrate.

Lands containing gold, copper and tin were dredged in the Papuan mountains, not far from Tembaga Pura. The land was “washed” near Timika. The land was abandoned near Timika. The concentrate is sent to the smelter to be separated into gold, copper and tin.

Over the past 60 years, concentrates have been shipped overseas. Foundry inserted abroad. In Japan and elsewhere.

It was not until President Jokowi's era that Freeport came under pressure to process its concentrate domestically. Freeport then chose a location in JIIPE, Gresik.

Gresik's Freeport smelter is so large that it can process 1.7 million tonnes of concentrate per year.

The government also banned Freeport from exporting concentrate. In addition to banning the export of nickel ore.

Of course, foreign foundries that source raw materials from Papua are half-screaming. They also struggle to find raw materials wherever they can be found.

Now the problem arises: with the shutdown of the Freeport smelter in Gresik, what will happen to the concentrate produced by Freeport Papua. Of course, Freeport is asking for an exemption: so that as long as its smelter is not in production, it is authorized to export concentrate.

Ministers like Bahlil Lahadalia strongly rejected the waiver request. Even the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources suspects that if exports were allowed, smelter repairs could be slower.

The case of the New Freeport Smelter fire is certainly interesting in all respects: project management, commissioning system, facility management to project supervision management.

A large project similar to that of Krakatau Steel took place. More than 10 years ago. The Cilegon steel foundry exploded during production trials. It has not yet been handed over to the project owner: Krakatau Steel.

Indeed, this is still the responsibility of the EPC contractor, but the impact on Krakatau Steel is very deadly. Furthermore, the foreign contractor is not able to cover the rehabilitation costs – almost like building a new foundry.

In Freeport, only the pollution part of the engine burns. In Krakatau Steel, the main engine that exploded was destroyed.

Big projects have 2 big ones. Only people with big guts dare to take on big projects.