Indonesia Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani said he expects the government to soon sign a deal with Freeport-McMoRan, which will give a local partner a 12% stake in its Indonesian unit, PT Freeport Indonesia, reported Reuters.
State-owned holding company MIND ID owns 51% of PT Freeport Indonesia, which runs operations at the Grasberg minerals district.
“This is just an administrative process but we have already agreed on all of points (of discussions)… Once it is done, we can proceed with the signing,” Roeslani told reporters. He added that the 12% will be “free of charge.”
Freeport said it was still in negotiations with the Indonesian government regarding the rights to operate Grasberg beyond 2041 when an existing deal expires. According to the news agency, Indonesia Mining Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said it was important to reach a deal to extend the mining permit to ensure the company could start investing in exploration for future resources to be extracted from Grasberg.
The Grasberg minerals district in Papua, Indonesia, is one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits.
Source: Reuters