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Freeport positive about permit extension for copper concentrate exports
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Workers walk past a steel structure on Jan. 13, 2023, at the construction site for PT Freeport Indonesia's smelter in Gresik, East Java. (JP/M. Taufiqurrahman)
G
old and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is confident it will be allowed to continue exporting copper concentrate until the end of the year.
The mining giant expects its Manyar copper smelter and refinery in Gresik, East Java, to be finished in May 2024, meeting the government’s condition for extending the firm’s copper concentrate export permit, which otherwise would expire in May.
Richard C. Adkerson, CEO of United States-based Freeport McMoRan, said he had discussed the issue with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo several times and that it was for administrative and procedural reasons that the government would not grant PTFI the permit extension until the company had completed work on the smelter in Manyar.
Once construction of the smelter is completed, Adkerson suggested, getting approval for the company’s request was only an administrative matter.
“We’re not negotiating [...] I have spoken at least on three occasions directly with the President about it; he understands it,” Adkerson said in Freeport McMoRan's fourth-quarter conference call on Friday.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read also: Freeport to build new smelter in Papua to fulfill contract extension condition
