By Dominikus
Multisector business developer PT Pintu Air Mas Group (PAM Group) has disclosed plans to develop a copper smelter at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Palu, Central Sulawesi, through its wholly owned subsidiary PT Wanhong Nonferrous Recycling Utilization (WNRU). The information was disclosed by Ruddy Tjanaka, PAM’s Director, who confirmed his involvement in the project.
“Together with our Chinese partner, the project was initially planned to produce copper matte. However, after analyzing current market conditions and the implementation of export restrictions on copper commodities, we decided to shift directly to producing copper cathode,” Ruddy told Petromindo.com on the sidelines of the Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference in Jakarta on Tuesday (13 June).
He added that the company is currently conducting copper exploration, including in Tolitoli Regency, Central Sulawesi, but declined to disclose the specific mining permits (IUP).
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“Currently, everything is being reorganized and designed. The investment value and timeline are still under discussion. We are also in talks with several copper miners, including PT Freeport Indonesia,” he said without further elaboration.
According to the company’s website, PT Wanhong was established in 2019. The smelter was originally designed to produce 180,000 tons of copper matte per year. Over time, and following government regulations, the production target was revised to 100,000 tons of copper cathode annually.
Based on Petromindo.com’s research using first-half 2025 Mining One Data Indonesia (MODI) updates, several companies holding copper mining permits in Indonesia include PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara, PT Batutua Kharisma Permai, PT Celebes Bone Mineral, PT Freeport Indonesia, PT Gemilang Limpah Internusa, PT Kalla Arebamma, PT Oro Kni, and PT Wijaya Eka Sakti.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
