IT is truly difficult to understand the attitude of US mining giants Freeport Indonesia and Newmont Nusa Tenggara. They have been operating in the country for over three decades, digging up gold, copper and other mineral ores with proven satisfactory profit margins. Today, when they are asked to invest in building a smelter to ensure value added to their products, they provide all kinds of excuses to avoid doing it.

The source of the objection s