The world’s second-largest copper reserve mine is located in the Grasberg Mine, Mimika, West Papua. Yes, you heard it right. The beautiful archipelago is not the only charm that West Papua has. It’s also been known for its mine power for more than five decades. Besides gold as the top mining product, there’s copper, which turns out to be the most exported commodity in 2020 and 2021.
As one of the most popular metals used in numerous industries, copper production has escalated from time to time. It is universally used as a good conductor of electricity and has been used for thousands of years ago.
The Valuable Metal
West Papua’s most exported commodity is copper ore and concentrates (HS26 category) for US$400,23 million in December 2020. The number has increased from US$366,9 million in the previous months.
Copper, known as one of the most important metals, has been widely used since 3,000 years ago. Mined from ore that spread all over the world, the copper ore needs to pass through various complicated mechanisms.
Starting with exploration and discovery, the copper ore found in the crust will be extracted using two mining methods, open pit, and underground mining. The ore is then processed, beneficiated, smelted, and extracted. After two refining procedures, the ore generates a copper cathode as pure copper. It will be sent to many production factories and processed into wire, cable, and certain tubular shapes.
The Export Data
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources claimed that the total export of copper commodities in 2021 had reached 2 million tons. The reserve of copper ore in Indonesia reaches 3,2 billion tons, which are predicted to last until 2044.
Based on Papua’s Statistics data in December 2020, the largest exported commodity obtained from non-oil and gas was US$407,13 million, an increase of 7,23 percent from the previous month. While in December 2021, the total export was worth US$393,01 million, a decrease of 25,87 percent compared to the previous month, which was worth US$530,19 million.
Export commodities are loaded and departed from Amamapare Harbor in Mimika, West Papua. It was worth US$37,17 million, or 96,78 percent of West Papua’s total export, in December 2021. Cumulatively, West Papua’s total export in January-December 2021 was worth US$4.439,75 million, an increased 131,55 percent compared to the total export in January-December 2022 worth US$1.917,37 million.
The other commodity worth US$126,16 million is wood and wood products (HS44 category), and the other non-oil and gas group is worth US$16,88 million in January-December 2021.
PT Freeport Indonesia
PT Freeport Indonesia produces copper ore and concentrates under the ownership of PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium and Freeport-McMoRan. They have been mining and producing copper, silver, and gold concentrates since 1967 in Tembagapura, Mimika, West Papua.
In 2021, the government of Indonesia had recommended PT Freeport Indonesia export a 2 million tons quota of copper concentrate. This number has increased from 1,069,000 tons last year. The instruction was issued due to the intense rising price of the copper commodity in the market. Thus, the order was made to supply the high demand and multiply the national revenue.
As the world’s second-largest copper mine after Escondida Mine in Chili, Grasberg Mine has 700,000 tons of production capacity. In fact, it’s the only copper mine in Asia, whilst the others are located in the West.
New Smelter Outside of West Papua
Meanwhile, the government had promised to increase the production capacity of copper by more than 3,8 million tons. This plan is supported by developing a new smelter in Gresik, East Java. Previously, the plan was protested by many circles in West Papua, from businessmen and indigenous people to intellectuals, who questioned whether no smelter had been built in West Papua.
The protest was then answered by the Vice President of Corporate Communication of PT Freeport Indonesia, Riza Pratama. He said that in Gresik, two big industries would need smelter waste, PT Petrokimia Gresik, and PT Semen Indonesia. Moreover, sulfate acid waste is used as the base material for fertilizer in Petrokimia. And copper waste is used as a material for cement factories. No useless waste will be discarded carelessly.
Riza added that West Papua doesn’t have a large industry capable of absorbing such an amount of smelter waste. In fact, all of the smelter waste was sent abroad while it actually can be used as materials for cellular phones and electronic and automotive tools.
Summary
Overall, West Papua not only offers paradise-on-earth tourism spots that have been recognized by the world but also contributes to the national economic growth for years. One of its most valuable commodities is copper, which is claimed by the international markets and needed by many industries as its key material.
Of all the greatness that West Papua has, our duty as Indonesian is to make sure that their lands, natural resources, and people get the prosperity they deserve.
