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Today's Headlines Grasberg Mine
The Indonesian government took another major step forward in becoming the majority stakeholder (through state-owned mining holding company Indonesia Asahan Aluminium, or Inalum) of mining giant Freeport Indonesia that operates the lucrative Grasberg mine in Papua.
The Indonesian government and US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc are entering the final stage of the divestment process after both sides signed the Head of Agreement on Thursday (12/07). The agreement means that state-owned mining company Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum) will obtain a 51.23 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia via a series of complex deals worth USD $3.85 billion.
There is still no agreement between Indonesia and Freeport Indonesia regarding the sale of a 10.64 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia. Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources objected to the USD $1.7 billion asking price for the stake in Freeport Indonesia, the local unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan. Based on Indonesian Government Regulation No. 77/2014 on the Implementation of Mineral and Coal Mining Business Activities, Freeport Indonesia is required to divest a 30 percent stake (to an Indonesian party) before 2019.
Today, Freeport Indonesia and the Indonesian government will continue negotiations regarding the miner’s request to export 575,000 tons of copper over the next six months. Freeport’s previous export permit expired on 25 July and as the local unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan has not yet met demands of the government it failed to get an extension for copper concentrate exports. As a result, shares of parent company Freeport McMoran Inc. tumbled 9.90 percent on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday (24/07).
Due to a strike at Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg mine in Papua, the company’s copper production has fallen by about a third thus leading to speculation that global copper prices may increase after having fallen almost ten percent in 2014. About one thousand workers of Freeport Indonesia have been on strike since the second week of October after a fatal accident at the end of last month. The workers request the sacking of around 50 managers at the subsidiary of US-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold.
Freeport Indonesia, subsidiary of American-based Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold, is allowed to continue its open-pit mining activities. The company was forced to halt its mining activities temporarily after an underground tunnel collapsed in mid-May, resulting in the deaths of 28 people. After a thorough evaluation by an independent team of investigators, Freeport is allowed to resume operations. The permission was granted by Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
Latest Columns Grasberg Mine
Reportedly, the government of Indonesia will hand Freeport Indonesia a temporary export permit for copper concentrate shipments, hence being able to bypass (for the moment) Indonesia's controversial ban on mineral ore exports. Freeport Indonesia, the local unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan, has been unable to export copper concentrate for the past three months, thus missing out on about USD $1 billion in revenue. Due to the drop in exports, mining activities at the Grasberg mine in Papua fell drastically, giving rise to concern about layoffs.
The bargaining over the 10.64 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia has begun. Whereas Freeport proposed a price of USD $1.7 billion, Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources says the stake is only worth USD $630 million. Due to Government Regulation No. 77/2014 on the Implementation of Mineral and Coal Mining Business Activities, Freeport Indonesia - the local unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan - has to divest a 30 percent stake (to an Indonesian party) gradually up to the year 2019. Currently, the central government already owns a 9.36 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia.
Production is still not back on track at Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg mine in Papua as around 1,000 workers have not showed up for work since the second week of October. These workers refuse to work after a series of (fatal) incidents that led to concern about safety policies. In May 2013, 28 Freeport Indonesia workers died after a tunnel collapsed. More recently, in late September 2014, four workers died after a giant haulage truck collided with another vehicle (carrying nine passengers) at the Grasberg mine.
Global copper prices can come under pressure as Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) has started to export copper concentrate again this week after a nine-month hiatus caused by the dispute between the Indonesian government and NNT about Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining (the “New Mining Law” of Indonesia), which sets high export taxes on unprocessed mineral exports (and stipulates a complete ban by 2017), in an effort to force Indonesian miners to build local processing facilities.
Freeport Indonesia, subsidiary of US-based natural resources company Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, is optimistic that the Indonesian government will extend the company’s contract to operate the Grasberg mine in Papua (eastern Indonesia). This mine is the world’s largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine. The current contract between the Indonesian government and Freeport Indonesia expires in 2021. However, Freeport is currently in need of some certainty before investing a large amount on mining operations and smelting facilities.
