US Freeport to cut majority stake in Indonesia mine on govt pressure
29 Aug 2017 10:59 PM IST
Jakarta: Indonesia is allowing Freeport- McMoRan to continue operating a giant gold and copper mine after the US company agreed on Tuesday to relinquish majority ownership of it to the government.
Indonesia's Energy and Minerals Minister Ignasius Jonan told a news conference that Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. could operate the mine in easternmost Papua until 2041 under a new arrangement with the government.
Details are still to be worked out, but it paves the way to end a lengthy dispute between Freeport and Indonesia that reduced the Grasberg mine's production in recent months.
The mine in Papua, where a separatist movement simmers, has been the target of protests by Papuans who resent the region's mineral wealth being exploited by the US and Indonesia.
The original agreement expires in 2021.
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