Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has announced that its smelter facility in Gresik, which was damaged by a fire last year, has resumed operations ahead of schedule.
PTFI President Director Tony Wenas said the smelter repairs were completed faster than the June 2025 deadline initially promised to the government. Tony described the smelter’s restart in the third week of May as a major achievement, demonstrating the company’s resilience and its commitment to downstream mineral development.
“The smelter was originally scheduled to resume production in the third week of June, but repairs progressed more quickly than anticipated,” Tony said in a statement on Thursday (May 22), as reported by CNN Indonesia.
The facility is now expected to begin producing copper cathodes by the fourth week of June. “Once the concentrate is fed into the furnace and processed into copper anodes, it is transferred to the electrorefinery to be converted into cathodes,” Tony explained.
To expedite the recovery, PTFI deployed wide-body cargo aircraft—including Boeing 747s and three Antonov AN-124 flights, bringing in over 300 tons of materials. Approximately 2,000 workers were mobilized for repairs, working in two shifts focused on equipment replacement, construction, and installation.
“Safety has been our top priority throughout the process. Every stage of the repair and commissioning was carried out with extreme care to ensure the smelter could safely return to operation as soon as possible,” Tony said.
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The smelter is now in its ramp-up phase, with production gradually increasing from 40 percent to full capacity by December 2025.
He added that Freeport-McMoRan Chairman Richard C. Adkerson and President & CEO Kathleen Quirk personally visited the Gresik site to ensure the restart of operations following the force majeure incident on October 14, 2024.
Tony concluded that the accelerated repair and production timeline of the damaged smelter reflects Freeport Indonesia’s role as a fully integrated mining company, committed to supporting the government’s mineral downstreaming agenda and fulfilling its obligations under the Special Mining Business License (IUPK).
(Raidi/Agung)
