JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia’s government has reached an agreement with Freeport Indonesia to halt operations at the Grasberg mine to give priority to the search for trapped workers, the country’s mining minister said on Friday.
A large mud flow earlier this month trapped seven workers at the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine. Two of the workers were found dead on September 20, Freeport said.
Production at Freeport Indonesia, which is majority owned by Indonesia’s government but operated by U.S. mining giant Freeport McMoRan, has not resumed after the incident, and the stoppage is impacting both output and revenue, minister Bahlil Lahadalia told reporters.
Asked when production would be resumed, Bahlia said the government and Freeport will discuss the matter.
He added that Indonesia and Freeport had also discussed extending its mining permit beyond 2041.
Freeport-McMoRan on Wednesday declared force majeure at the Grasberg mine and said it was expecting consolidated sales to be lower for copper and gold in the third quarter.
The announcement has sent copper prices in Shanghai to a six-month high on Tuesday due to concerns about tight supply.
The company said a phased restart and ramp-up of operations at Grasberg, one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines, may occur in the first half of 2026.
(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by David Stanway)
