Freeport agrees to cut production<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Environment Sonny Keraf said
\non Tuesday that giant gold and copper mining company PT Freeport
\nIndonesia had agreed to cut its production following an incident
\nat the Wanagong dumping site.<\/p>\n
Sonny said that Freeport was still calculating how much it
\nwould reduce its production from the present level of about
\n230,000 tons of ore per day.<\/p>\n
\"But there is no need to suspend operation,\" he said on the
\nsidelines of an national conference on the management of natural
\nresources.<\/p>\n
Sonny has suggested earlier to suspend Freeport's operation in
\nresponse to the Wanagong lake incident earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Mining waste material some 400 meters high at the lake,
\ncollapsed, causing a massive wave that swept away four employees
\nof Freeports' contractors.<\/p>\n
The company admitted that it was the third time the waste pile
\nhad collapsed, though it previously never led to any casualties.<\/p>\n
The last incident prompted the government to bar Freeport from
\ndumping the mining waste material -- called overburden -- into
\nWanagong lake until it could improve safety measures at the site.<\/p>\n
Sonny said that reducing Freeport's production would not
\nviolate its contract, which allowed the company to produce at a
\nlevel of 300,000 tons of ore per day.<\/p>\n
He said a geological team would assess whether it would be
\npossible for the company to continue using the Wanagong lake
\nwithout further risking erosion of the overburden.<\/p>\n
\"If the assessment says that this will be impossible, then
\nFreeport may no longer dump the overburden into the lake,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He further urged Freeport to build a giant basin to treat its
\ntailing in order to avoid environmental damage.<\/p>\n
Tailing is mining waste material after it has been processed,
\nwhich mining companies dump into rivers and lakes.<\/p>\n
Director general of general mining at the Ministry of Mines
\nand Energy Surna Tjahja Djadjadiningrat said that Freeport did
\nnot object to the government's call to reduce its production
\nlevels.<\/p>\n
However, he said, the company had to inform its New Orleans
\nbased parent company Freeport McMoran about the reduction.<\/p>\n
\"Whether they actually reduce their production level is up to
\nthem,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But Surna said that Freeport dumped most of its overburden
\ninto Wanagong lake.<\/p>\n
\"So how long can you survive?\" he quoted Minister of Mines and
\nEnergy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asking Freeport.<\/p>\n
The company had earlier said it was using the Qartenz dumping
\nsite to store the overburden while the ban was in effect.<\/p>\n
However, Surna assured that Freeport was unable to sustain its
\nproduction levels without dumping the overburden into Wanagong
\nlake. (bkm\/08)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/freeport-agrees-to-cut-production-1447893297",
"image": ""
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