7-10 days force majeure at Freeport

SINGAPORE: The force majeure on copper concentrate sales declared by U.S.-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. Thursday shouldn't last more than 7-10 days, estimated a senior executive with a big Japanese smelter Friday.

The executive, whose company buys concentrate from Freeport, based his estimate on the amount of time it took the mining giant to clean up after a fatal landslide at its Grasberg mine on Oct. 9.

Freeport said Thursday that a debris flow involving around 150,000 tons occurred Dec. 12 in the same section of the Grasberg open pit mine as the Oct. 9 landslide.

In the Oct. 9 incident, when 2.5 million tons of debris fell, Freeport said it was ready to resume full operations by late November. The Indonesian government approved the resumption of full operations on Dec. 8.

"I hope it (the Dec. 12 accident) isn't serious and we hope they will lift the force majeure soon," said the executive at the Japanese smelter. -- Dow Jones