Jakarta, IO – Linde Indonesia today announced it has signed an agreement to supply high-purity industrial gases to PT Freeport Indonesia, a leading mining company.
Linde will invest over US$100 million to build, own and operate an air separation unit (ASU) to supply oxygen and nitrogen to PT Freeport Indonesia’s new copper smelter and refinery in Manyar, Gresik, East Java.
The new copper smelter, the largest copper processing site in the world, will process concentrates from PT Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg mine, one of the largest copper and gold deposits.
Linde’s new on-site facility is expected to start up in mid-2024 and will be one of the largest ASUs in Indonesia.
The new ASU will be a customized plant deploying Linde’s advanced technology, which can deliver significantly improved energy efficiency. Linde’s oxygen is used in the smelting of copper concentrate, one of the first steps in the production process of copper cathodes.