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ames '€œJim Bob'€ Moffett, chairman of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc., met with President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo in Jakarta Thursday to seek certainty over the future of the mining company'€™s operations in Indonesia.

The visit followed an announcement made earlier in June that the company had in principle agreed to change its contract of work (CoW) into a license scheme, a move which would enable the mining giant to more quickly secure a contract extension.

However, due to legal constraints, the change in the contract could not be carried out until the current CoW ends.

Moffett, who had to wait for almost a month in Jakarta in order to meet with the President, will have to wait even longer to secure certainty of a contract extension.

'€œThe signal is clear that the government intends to maintain the operational continuity of Freeport. However, due to legal constraints, we still cannot give a decisive decision about the contract,'€ said Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said, who attended the meeting between the President and Moffett.

Said noted that during the meeting, President Jokowi asked Freeport to deliver maximum benefits to the country, increase local growth, comply with downstream obligations and realize the development of a hydroelectric power plant to support its planned underground mining activities.

Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, currently holds a CoW that remains valid until the year 2021. The company is trying to seal an early extension of its contract to provide certainty for its planned US$15 billion investment in underground mining and $2.3 billion in smelter development.

Under current government regulations, Freeport can only submit a proposal for extension two years before the expiry date, or in 2019 when the first term of government under President Jokowi is set to end.

In order to be able to secure an early contract extension, the company and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry agreed recently to change Freeport'€™s CoW into a license (IUPK). By changing the contract, Freeport would not have to wait until 2019 to have its contract renewed. Under an IUPK, a company has a maximum term of 20 years and can extend two times for subsequent terms of 10 years each.

However, the proposed change goes against the 2009 Mining Law, which states that the government has to honor an existing contract until its expiry date before changing it into a license. This means, in effect, that Freeport'€™s change to a licence could only be performed after 2021.

Minister Sudirman hinted that his office was seeking a legal change to enable mining companies to apply for contract extensions much earlier than they can now.

Although operational continuity remains unclear, Freeport Indonesia president director Maroef Sjamsoedin said he was optimistic that his company and the government could work for a solution.

'€œIn principal, Freeport sees that the meeting with the President is a positive signal. Of course, we have to process this further. Whenever the government needs Freeport to provide data or requirements, we will be helpful so that the operation can pass through administrative and legal requirements,'€ Maroef said.

Freeport has operated the Grasberg mine in Mimika regency, Papua, since 1967, with the mining site home to the largest gold mine and the third-largest copper mine in the world.

Despite the mine'€™s hefty contribution to Freeport'€™s financial performance, each year the firm only pays the government 1 percent in royalties for mining gold and 3.5 percent for mining copper.