Officials at Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold have ended their force majeure declaration on ore shipments from their copper-gold mine at Grasberg, the world’s second largest, in the West Papua province of Indonesia.
Grasberg shipments are at normal levels, said Rozik Soetjipto, the president-director at the company’s majority-owned local unit, told reporters in Jakarta. Freeport has yet to formally announce the lifting of the force majeure declared on June 12, allowing it to miss deliveries following a tunnel accident. Freeport resumed some concentrate shipments in July.
The end of the halt at Grasberg will add to global supplies at a time when prices are rising amid reports of stronger manufacturing and lower copper stockpiles in China, the world’s top consumer of the metal; the deposit normally produces 220,000 ore tons daily, according to Soetjipto.
The Indonesian government ordered Freeport to suspend work at Grasberg after a May 14 tunnel collapse killed 28 workers. The suspension reduced production by about 125 million copper lbs and 125,000 gold oz in Q2, the company said in a statement on July 23.
