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PT Merdeka Copper Gold, one of Indonesia's largest listed miners and part of the Saratoga investment group, has proposed a shake-up of its board of directors as it expands from gold into nickel, copper and the electric-vehicle supply chain.

At its annual general meeting scheduled for June 23, the company, which trades on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the ticker MDKA, will ask shareholders to approve three new directors while accepting the resignations of three others. The incoming candidates are Mirdal Vismara Timoer, Mohammad Fitriyansyah and M.P. Riyadi Effendy, who is better known as Teddy Effendy. Departing are Jason Laurence, David Thomas Fowler and Chrisanthus Supriyo. The company is not proposing any change to its board of commissioners.

President director Albert Saputro described the move as a long-planned organizational refresh. As the group's asset portfolio widens and its operations become more integrated, he said, the company needs a leadership mix spanning finance, operations, project management and business development to execute its growth strategy in a disciplined and measured way.

The new line-up


The proposed directors bring backgrounds aligned with that pivot. Mirdal, deputy group chief financial officer since 2025, joined Merdeka in 2018 and has held roles in corporate finance, financial planning and investor relations, with more than 15 years of experience across mining, energy, oil and gas and telecommunications. Fitriyansyah, a civil engineer by training, has more than three decades in engineering, construction management and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work, including senior posts at Rekayasa Industri, JGC Indonesia, Petrosea and Austindo Nusantara Jaya. His arrival is intended to strengthen project execution as Merdeka advances nickel and critical-mineral projects. Teddy Effendy, the group's chief of business improvement, has more than 30 years in finance, corporate governance and business transformation, with earlier roles at Arthur Andersen, the Astra and Lippo groups and Hyundai's Indonesian operations.

A group in expansion mode

The reshuffle reflects a company in the middle of an aggressive build-out. Established in 2012 and listed in 2015, Merdeka has grown from a gold and copper producer into a sprawling metals group. It operates the Tujuh Bukit gold mine in East Java and the Wetar copper mine in Maluku, and in October 2025 began production at the Pani gold mine in Gorontalo, set to become one of Indonesia's largest. It is also developing the Tujuh Bukit underground copper project, regarded as one of the world's largest undeveloped porphyry deposits.

Its nickel ambitions run through subsidiary Merdeka Battery Materials (MBMA), which operates smelters at the Morowali industrial park and controls one of the world's largest nickel resources, positioning the group as a prospective supplier of raw materials for global EV battery production. To fund the expansion, MDKA has lined up a fourth private placement that could raise up to 7.58 trillion rupiah, about 437 million US dollars, to strengthen its capital structure, while MBMA has planned a 1.46 trillion rupiah buyback and secured a 490 million dollar loan facility.

A marquee week for the group

The board vote lands in the same week as a higher-profile event for Merdeka. The group's gold arm, PT Merdeka Gold Resources (EMAS), is carrying out a secondary listing in Hong Kong through depositary receipts, with bookbuilding running from June 17 to June 23, the day of MDKA's annual meeting. The offering of about 89.7 million receipts could raise up to roughly 306 million dollars, and has drawn a roster of cornerstone investors including commodity traders Glencore, Trafigura and Mercuria, alongside financial institutions such as Ping An. The shares being sold come from existing minority holders, and MDKA, the controlling shareholder, is retaining its entire stake.

EMAS, which focuses on the Pani gold project, has roughly doubled since its Jakarta debut in September 2025 and carries a market value of around 5.8 billion dollars. The push offshore comes as Indonesian equities have slumped about 29 percent this year and as global investors weigh a separate MSCI review, due the same week, of whether to keep the country in its emerging-market category.

MDKA is affiliated with the Saratoga group, one of Indonesia's largest investment houses, and counts businessman Garibaldi Thohir among its shareholders. Saratoga's stake, around 19 percent, is set to fall to about 18 percent after the planned share issuance. The company said the leadership changes are aimed at strengthening corporate governance and maintaining operational continuity as its expansion continues.