Metso Outotec said the "landmark" copper smelter at Freeport Indonesia's Manyar Project, which is due to be commissioned by 2024 and have an initial capacity of 1.7 mtpa, would use the company's Flash Smelting, Flash Converting and Lurec technology.

Metso Outotec will design and supply the copper electrolytic refinery, the gas cleaning and sulphuric acid plant, the slag concentrator, and the effluent treatment plant. The company's Lurec technology can process higher gas concentrations than conventional smelter acid plants - up to 25% vol. SO₂ directly.

"Our joint efforts with Freeport Indonesia and Chiyoda will set a new standard for the copper smelter industry in fulfilling the strictest international environmental standards," said Pekka Vauramo, president & CEO, Metso Outotec.

"We have worked with Freeport Indonesia and Chiyoda for several years to ensure and select the best available process design and technologies for the Manyar Project," says Jari Ålgars, President, Metals business area at Metso Outotec.

The Manyar Smelter, currently being developed in the Java Integrated Industrial Estate (JIIPE) in Gresik, East Java on a plot of land spanning 100 hectares and at an estimated cost of US$3 billion, is PTFI's second copper concentrate refining and processing facility.

The Manyar Smelter is designed to have a final copper concentrate processing capacity of 2 million tons per year, making it the largest copper processing site in the world.

Earlier this week, Freeport Indonesia signed a US$3 billion engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to develop the smelter with Japanese company Chiyoda International Indonesia (PTCII).