Antara, Petir Garda B, Yudono Yanuar, Jakarta – PT Freeport Indonesia's sulfuric acid smelter unit at the Gresik Special Economic Zone, East Java, caught fire on Monday, October 14, 2024, at 5:45 PM local time.
"There were no casualties," said VP Corporate Communications of PTFI Katri Krisnati to ANTARA in Gresik.
She said that the PTFI emergency response team quickly moved to handle and extinguish the fire. 'There are no casualties in this incident. The safety of the employees is our priority,' she said.
The fire incident was recorded in a video that later circulated in several WhatsApp conversation groups. The circulating video, which lasted 29 seconds, showed a burning factory building. Workers still wearing uniforms were seen moving away from the burning building.
Several workers also asked their colleagues to quickly move away from the burning building. Shortly after, an explosion was heard coming from the burning building.
PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) will conduct an evaluation regarding the cause of the fire.
'PTFI will assess the damage that occurred and evaluate the main cause of this incident after the area is safe to enter,' said Katri Krisnati in Gresik.
Katri ensured that the fire has now been successfully brought under control.
'All employees have been confirmed safe and no injuries have been reported. The safety of all employees is our top priority,' she said.
In a relatively short time, support from institutions/companies and the local government in Gresik arrived to assist and remain at the location to jointly monitor the situation.
"At 8:45 PM local time, the fire at the sulfuric acid smelter unit of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) in the Gresik Special Economic Zone has now been successfully brought under control at 8:45 PM," said Katri Krisnati.
Atmosphere of the Freeport Smelter project at Smelter PTFI, Gresik Special Economic Zone (KEK), East Java, Monday, September 23, 2024. Doc. Corporate Communication PT Freeport Indonesia
Inaugurated by Jokowi last month
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated the smelter production of PT Freeport Indonesia in Gresik on September 23, 2024. Jokowi at that time stated that the opening of this giant cathode plant would make Indonesia a developed industrial country.
'Indonesia wants to process its natural resources itself and not export, once again, raw material. And this will create a very large job market,' he said in his speech.
An investment of Rp56 trillion was spent to build the PT Freeport smelter in Gresik, East Java. This plant can process 1.7 million tons of copper concentrate brought from Papua. The results are 900,000 tons of copper cathodes, 50 tons of gold, and 210 tons of silver.
Jokowi said the government would continue to monitor the construction of this smelter. Starting from 2018 when the land preparation began, groundbreaking in October 2021, until finally now it can be inaugurated. This project is said to involve MSMEs and large subcontractors.
On the same occasion, President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia Tony Wenas stated that the smelter PTFI in Gresik is the world's second-largest single-line smelter. He stated that with the operation of the PTFI smelter in Gresik, PT Freeport Indonesia becomes the largest upstream-downstream copper mining company in the world.
'And this is part of the President's downstream program and for copper supply needs for EVs and energy transition,' said Tony.
– Daniel A. Fajri contributed to the writing of this article.