TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – US-based mining company Freeport Indonesia might not be able to have a mineral smelter ready in time to get its exports license back. President Director Rozik B. Soetjipto said the company is having difficulties to meet the smelter construction deadline set by the government, as there is no certainty about the miner's future operations in Indonesia after its work contract expires in 2021.

According to Rozak, with just seven years left, Freeport will have enough time to recoup. "Freeport needs a considerably long time to return the investment for underground mines and smelter development," Rozik via text message, yesterday.

Rozik admitted Freeport has not built a smelter as requested by the government. But the company is already working on the basic engineering of smelter plants. "Physically, we haven’t build one yet, but we have finished the studies for the technology," he said.

R. Sukhyar, director general of mineral and coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said the government would hold on to Freeport's export license longer if the miner fails to have a smelter ready on time. To obtain an export license, a mining company must reach 60 percent of smelter construction progress in 2015.

ALI HIDAYAT