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Indonesia prepares company to manage Freeport
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A heavy vehicle passes an open pit mining site at gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia’s open pit facility in Grasberg, Tembagapura, Mimika, Papua. (JP/Nethy Dharma Somba)
T
he Indonesian government is now preparing state-owned aluminum producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) to manage a gold and copper mining site in Papua if the government can finally take over the mining site from PT Freeport Indonesia.
“We can manage [Freeport]. We have Inalum. It is up to the state-owned enterprises ministry, but we are ready,” said Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan in Jakarta on Monday as reported by tempo.co.
The government will take over of the mining site if it wins in the international arbitration tribunal.
(Read also: Freeport's threat of arbitration simply a ploy to block mining reform)
Previously, Freeport McMoRan president and CEO Richard C. Adkerson said the 2009 Mineral and Coal Mining Law stipulated that the CoW signed in 1991 was still valid, but the government had requested that Freeport convert the contract into a special mining license (IUPK).
The company gave the government three months for negotiation and threatened to take the case to the international arbitration if the negotiation fails.
Inalum, a company in Asahan, North Sumatra, is now prepared to lead mining companies in an effort to set up state-owned mining company holding, Luhut said.
The minister stressed that the company has the capability to manage Freeport, the world largest copper and gold mining company.
The government's plans to appoint Inalum to manage Freeport were supported by a member of the House of Representatives’ energy commission, Gus Irawan Pasaribu, who said the company had good performance in managing the aluminum producer, which was established in cooperation with the Indonesian government and Nippon Asahan Aluminium Co in 1976. (bbn)
