According to mining.com, citing Reuters, Indonesia's Energy Minister stated on Monday that the country would issue a six-month copper concentrate export permit to Freeport Indonesia, allowing the company to export copper concentrates during smelter maintenance. This will also ensure that the Indonesian government continues to receive royalties.
Freeport's new smelter in Gresik, East Java Province, experienced a fire last October, forcing the smelter to halt copper cathode production. Since then, Freeport has been seeking this permit.
Indonesia's Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said, "We are giving them six months so they can quickly repair the smelter, enabling Indonesia to gain national revenue from royalties."
According to Bisnis.com, Freeport's CEO Tony Wenas stated that the company has been granted an export quota of approximately 1.27 million mt of copper concentrates and added that the company would apply for a formal export license from Indonesia's Ministry of Trade.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Trade said that Freeport Indonesia had submitted its application to them.
Since the expiration of the last export permit at the end of 2024, Freeport has not exported copper concentrates. The company previously stated that due to the continuous increase in copper concentrate inventory, which has reached 400,000 mt, its mining capacity has been operating at only 40%.
Last week, Freeport stated that it would seek to export 1.2 million mt of concentrates.
Freeport Indonesia and Indonesia's Ministry of Energy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Resource-rich Indonesia has imposed export bans on unprocessed minerals such as copper and nickel to promote the development of its domestic processing industry.
On Monday, Bahlil spoke at the inauguration ceremony of Freeport Indonesia's precious metals refinery, located within the Gresik smelter complex. According to the live-streamed presentation, the $630 million refinery will process gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
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