Freeport Indonesia to Resume Limited Operation in March
Jakarta. Freeport Indonesia, the local unit of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan could restart production as soon as next week at a limited capacity to supply local smelter Smelting, the miner's spokesman said on Tuesday (22/02).
Freeport Indonesia has ceased mining operations at the Grasberg mine in Papua and furloughed its employees since Feb. 10, after it failed to renew its export permits for copper and gold concentrates. Since then the miner's contract renegotiation with the Indonesian government has been at an impasse.
"We can start production again in early March. Production then will rely entirely on intake from Smelting," Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama said.
The local smelter, 25 percent of whose shares are owned by Freeport, can produce 1 million tonnes of concentrates a year, or just 40 percent of Freeport's production capacity.
The company said it hoped to find an agreement with the government regarding its contract of work in the next four months, otherwise it would bring the Indonesian government to an arbitration court.
Freeport Indonesia is seeking to continue its operations beyond 2021, with protection against future legal and fiscal changes just as it enjoyed under the last contract of work.
Ignatius Jonan, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources said the government cannot fulfill the demand without revising the 2009 mining law. Jonan also said the government is ready to face Freeport in court.
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