Freeport: No need for Grasberg force majeure<\/p>\n
OsterDow Jones, Singapore<\/p>\n
PT Freeport Indonesia said on Thursday it doesn't foresee the
\nneed to declare a force majeure despite the partial closure of
\nits Grasberg mine.<\/p>\n
"We are in close contact with our customers, but at this
\nmoment, we don't have to declare a force majeure," a company
\nspokesman told OsterDowJones.<\/p>\n
Parts of the open pit mine at PT Freeport's Grasberg
\noperations in West Papua have been closed since Oct. 9, when a
\nfatal landslide killed four employees.<\/p>\n
Four others are still missing.<\/p>\n
It is still uncertain as to when the company can resume full
\nproduction at Grasberg, the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
"The resumption will depend on the recovery and cleanup
\nactivity, and our top priority is to search for the remaining
\nvictims," the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
But he added that the company expects to resume full
\nproduction in the current quarter.<\/p>\n
Grasberg, the world's largest copper and gold mine, produced
\n1.13 million tons of copper concentrate and around 2.2 million
\nounces of gold in the first nine months of 2003.<\/p>\n
U.S.-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., PT Freeport's
\nparent company, said it expects to lose around 10 percent of its
\nprojected 2003 sales volume of 1.4 billion pounds of copper and
\n2.6 million ounces of gold due to the partial closure.<\/p>\n
Daily copper-ore production has been slashed to 160,000-
\n180,000 metric tons from 250,000 metric tons.<\/p>\n
Grasberg's partial closure has exacerbated the already-tight
\nglobal copper concentrate supply, leading one of its major
\ncustomers, Japan's Pan Pacific Copper Ltd., to trim its
\nproduction forecast.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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