Freeport Says Grasberg Mine Operating at Two-Thirds Capacity
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Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the world’s largest publicly traded copper miner, said it’s operating the open pit at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia at about two-thirds of capacity after workers went on strike.
The Phoenix-based company is “uncertain” how soon the dispute will be resolved, Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson said yesterday on Freeport’s third-quarter earnings conference call. The company lowered its full-year copper sales forecast by 100 million pounds (45,360 metric tons) to 3.8 billion pounds because of protests by workers at Grasberg, the latest of which started Sept. 15.