A spokesperson for Freeport Indonesia said this week that a production recovery schedule set for its Grasberg block cave (GBC) underground copper operation has now been delayed for full operations until 2028.
Per a Reuters report, the resumption is a year later than it first anticipated. The mine has been working on an adjusted plan since suffering a mudflow in September 2025, and CEO Tony Wenas originally said the mine was only expected to return to full production by 2027.
“Adjustment to the GBC production recovery target was made due to additional work on logistics and ore handling infrastructure at the underground mine following the incident last September,” Katri Krisnati, a Freeport Indonesia spokesperson said in a statement.
“Operations are currently in the recovery phase following the GBC underground mine incident, with production currently at around 40% to 50%. The company targets a return to full capacity by early 2028,” Wenas added, per the report.
Wetter-than-expected material conditions required modifications to the ore transportation system and supporting facilities to ensure operations remained safe. The delay is additionally linked to amendments Freeport is making to its loadout equipment. In April, it noted that the mine’s underground ore became wetter due to groundwater infiltration following the mine’s shutdown in September.
Production at the unaffected sections of the GBC underground mine was partially restarted last month.