Freeport Indonesia Copper Exports Will Not Be Stopped Amid Talks: Official
Jakarta. The Indonesian unit of US miner Freeport McMoRan can continue to export copper concentrate even if negotiations over the company's permit to operate the giant Grasberg mine are not resolved this month, a mining ministry official said.
In April, the government awarded Freeport a permit to export 1.1 million tons of copper concentrate until February next year, but said shipments could be stopped again in October if negotiations over a new mining permit were not resolved by then.
"Exports will continue," Coal and Minerals director general Bambang Gatot Ariyono told reporters, when asked about the timeline for Freeport talks, adding that as long as Freeport had made progress in the development of a second smelter it would be allowed to continue to export.
Reuters