RI and Russia to hold hands over bauxite deposits

Indonesia's publicly-listed mining company PT Antam Tbk and Russia's UC RUSAL have agreed to a partnership to develop bauxite deposits in Indonesia. Antam President Director D. Aditya Sumanagara and UC RUSAL Director for International and Special Projects Alexander Livshits signed an agreement Thursday in front of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Vladimir Putin. "The joint project with UC RUSAL is another sign of our commitment to increase share values," Aditya said. Antam's has two other alumina projects -- the Tayan Chemical Grade Alumina project and the Bintan Smelter Grade Alumina project -- but Sumanagara said he was confident this project would add value to the company's vast bauxite resources in West Kalimantan. "It is part of our strategy to create more value from our reserves by increasing processing activities," he said. Antam and UC RUSAL would explore the possibility of developing bauxite deposits and of building a smelter grade alumina processing plant in West Kalimantan, he said. Following a feasibi lity study, the proposed project might process 3.6 million wet metric tons (wmt) of washed bauxite per year into 1.2 million tonnes of smelter grade alumina per year. The initial estimated project cost might be about US$1.2 billion and Antam was likely to take a 49 percent stake in this project with UC RUSAL owning the remaining 51 percent, he said. He said feasibility studies would be conducted to determine the investment cost, location, technology, environment and other important aspects prior to the initial phase of development. The project is part of Antam's strategy to move into value-adding processing activities together with world class partners, including UC RUSAL, the world's largest alumina and aluminum producer. Antam said it would continue to work on the Tayan Chemical Grade Alumina project with Japanese and Singaporean companies. It would also explore the possibility of developing a smelter grade alumina project with a Chinese partner on Bintan Island.