The Indonesian government is holding discussions with Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) and Chinese steel giant Tsingshan Group to construct a new industrial estate for smelting metal on Borneo island in the country, according to local media reports citing the government.
The country aims to build an integrated facility for smelting iron ore, nickel ore, and copper. The metal smelting facility will be located near the 11,000-megawatt Kayan hydropower project in the North Kalimantan province and will become operational by 2023.
The government said that the smelting facility will work in line with the country’s aim to become a production hub for lithium-ion batteries using its nickel reserves. Lithium-ion batteries are used in electric vehicles (EV).