Freeport Has Spent Rp25 Trillion to Develop Kucing Liar Mine
PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has revealed that it has allocated an investment of around Rp25 trillion to develop the Kucing Liar underground mine in the Grasberg Mineral District, Central Papua. The project is being prepared as a long-term operational measure to maintain production stability.
President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia, Tony Wenas, stated that the development of the Kucing Liar mine has now entered the development stage. Production from the mine is targeted to commence in 2029.
“I would also like to inform here that the Kucing Liar mine, which is our mine of the future, is being worked on starting now; it has entered the development stage and will be ready for mining in 2029,” Tony said during a hearing with Commission XII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), as reported on Friday (18/09/2026).
Tony revealed that, to date, the company has spent approximately Rp25 trillion on the development of the Kucing Liar mine. This investment value is part of the total projected project investment needs, which are expected to reach around Rp72 trillion by 2033.
“We have spent approximately Rp25 trillion for the development of this Kucing Liar mine out of a total of Rp72 trillion up to 2033,” he added.
As is known, based on reports from Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has been conducting long-term mine development activities at the Kucing Liar deposit in the Grasberg mineral district since 2022.
In 2025, the company completed a study to evaluate the potential expansion of the deposit footprint, which was previously designed to operate at a capacity of 90,000 metric tons of ore per day.
The study identified low-cost expansion opportunities to increase capacity to 130,000 metric tons per day, while simultaneously increasing reserves by approximately 20%.
“As of 31 December 2025, PTFI’s initial estimate for Kucing Liar reserves is close to 8 billion pounds of copper and 8 million ounces of gold to be recovered until 2041, an increase from the previous estimate of 7 billion pounds of copper and 6 million ounces of gold,” management wrote in a statement on Monday (26/01/2026).
Based on the latest design, average production at Kucing Liar at full capacity will reach approximately 750 million pounds of copper and 735,000 ounces of gold, an increase of more than 35% from previous estimates.
According to the company’s economic study, the development of Kucing Liar requires an additional capital investment of approximately 10%, or US$0.5 billion, including the impact on the operations of the Grasberg Block Cave and adjustments to processing facilities.