“[Freeport has] the capability in the mining sector. We certainly don’t want them to go,” said Rini as reported by kompas.com on Tuesday.

She expressed the hope that PT Freeport Indonesia would remain supportive of the government after its divestment of 51 percent shares to Indonesian entities as required by the prevailing law.

PT Freeport Indonesia's agreement to divest its shares was announced on Aug. 29 by Richard Adkerson, the CEO of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan, its parent company.

Government and Freeport representatives are still discussing a number of key issues, including the structure and timing of the divestment. One of the tougher issues include the valuation of Freeport shares.  

Rini has repeatedly said the government wanted to assign state-owned mining firm PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) to buy the Freeport shares.

The government is also preparing a holding company comprising Inalum, PT Tambang Batu Bara Bukit Asam, PT Timah and PT Aneka Tambang as an alternative.

Rini said the government and Freeport needed to build mutual trust so that they could jointly manage the mining site. “We stress the importance of building mutual trust between partners. This could be done by signing an agreement between the [two] shareholders,” she added. (bbn)

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