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Freeport contract extension expected to be finalized ‘soon'
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Work is ongoing at PT Freeport Indonesia's Manyar copper smelter and refinery in Gresik, East Java, on Feb. 29, 2024. (JP/Divya Karyza)
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regulatory revision allowing for an extension of PT Freeport Indonesia’s (PTFI) mining permit (IUPK) to 2061 will be finalized soon, the government has announced.
Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the permit extension approval was pending a revision of Government Regulation (PP) No. 96/2021 on mineral and coal mining business procedures.
“We’re still discussing [the permit extension]. God willing, it will be finished soon,” he said in Jakarta on Thursday, as reported by Bisnis, without elaborating on the revisions made to the regulation.
Read also: Govt wants to see PTFI smelter completed before extending concentrate export permit
According to Article 109 of the regulation, companies have a four-year time frame to apply for an extension of their metal or coal mining activities, namely no earlier than five years and no later than one year before their permit expires.
Based on that rule, PTFI’s IUPK, which expires in 2041, should be processed in 2036 at the earliest.
The government has asked PTFI, which operates the giant Grasberg mine in Central Papua, to quickly deliver on its pledge to build a new smelter as one of the perquisites for extending the firm’s mining permit to 2061.
