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View all search resultsFreeport vows no layoffs at Gresik smelter amid supply shock
The gold and copper mining giant says it is retaining all permanent employees at its Gresik smelter, which has been impacted by the September mudslide at its underground mine in Mimika, Papua, and is not expected to resume operations until March next year.
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Members of Freeport Indonesia’s rescue team strive to locate five workers still trapped in the gold and copper miner’s Grasberg Block Cave underground mine in Tembagapura, Mimika, Central Papua, in this undated handout photo from September 2025. (Antara/handout/Freeport Indonesia)
(Antara/Freeport Indonesia/Handout/Antara/Freeport Indonesia/Handout)
P
T Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has made assurances that it will retain all full-time employees of its flagship copper smelter at the Java Integrated Industrial and Ports Estate (JIIPE) in Gresik, East Java, despite a temporary halt in operations due to a supply crunch, which is expected to last until April 2026.
“The smelter is not operational because of a disruption in our [copper] concentrate supply, but we haven’t let any employees go,” PTFI president director Tony Wenas said on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara.
“We’ve adjusted work schedules and the only drawdown has been with contractors, since we’re not yet at full [operating capacity],” he added.
Production was halted when a mudslide on Sept. 8 swept through multiple levels of the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) in Mimika, Papua, releasing around 800,000 tonnes of wet material that blocked access routes and fatally trapped seven workers in the service-level area of the underground mine.
Read also: Freeport recovers five more bodies, ending rescue efforts at Grasberg mine
Following the incident, PTFI halted all operations at the GBC as well as two other productive mines at its Tembagapura site, the Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ) and Big Gossan, as a precautionary measure.
While the latter two have resumed operations, albeit not yet at full capacity, operations at the GBC are estimated to resume in March 2026, according to the miner’s recovery timeline.
