Govt blames Freeport for landslide

Govt blames Freeport for landslide

JAKARTA: A massive landslide at PT Freeport Indonesia's gold and copper mine in West Papua that killed eight employees was likely the result of management negligence, a government official said on Monday.

Indonesian authorities launched a probe after the wall of an open pit at the massive Grasberg mine collapsed Oct. 9, burying the eight workers. Five others were injured.

Government investigators learned that management of the company, a local unit of Louisiana-based Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc., knew the wall could collapse but didn't take sufficient action, said Suryatono, an energy ministry official leading the probe.

"There was information from one of the employees to the head of the mining operations at Freeport that there could be a landslide," Suryatono told Dow Jones. "But (the head) made the wrong decision."

Employees had reported their concerns over the steep angle at which Freeport had been mining the pit, Suryatono said.

The government probe is ongoing, he said.

A Freeport spokesman declined to comment.

The government has forced Freeport to suspend operations at part of the Grasberg mine since the incident, and has ordered the company to hire a new geological consultant to help prevent further landslides. -- Dow Jones