Gresik. A fire broke out at Freeport Indonesia's smelter factory in the Java Integrated Industrial Port and Estate (JIIPE) Special Economic Zone (KEK) in Gresik, East Java, accompanied by reports of two loud explosions.

According to information gathered by Beritasatu.com, the fire started on Monday at 5:45 p.m. local time. In a 29-second video circulating online, flames were seen engulfing the single-line copper concentrate processing plant, which was inaugurated by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo less than a month ago, on Sept. 24.

The fire caused panic among hundreds of workers, many of whom fled the area, with some boarding buses to escape potential danger from further explosions.

Freeport Indonesia’s VP of Corporate Communications, Katri Krisnati, confirmed the incident at the $3.68 billion (Rp 60 trillion) smelter facility.

“A fire has broken out at the smelter plant. Freeport Indonesia’s emergency response team quickly took action and is currently working to extinguish the flames,” Katri said.

She assured the public that there were no casualties. “The safety of our employees is our top priority,” she added.

The fire is believed to have originated in the boiler area. At this time, Freeport Indonesia management has yet to determine the extent of the material losses caused by the fire.

The facility, which began operations on June 27, has an input capacity of 1.7 million tons of copper concentrate and is expected to produce approximately 650,000 tons of copper cathodes annually, along with 50 tons of gold and 210 tons of silver. It is projected to reach full capacity by December 2024.

Add as a preferred source on Google +