Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesia Operations Unaffected by Fatal Accident

   By Deden Sudrajat and I Made Sentana 
 

JAKARTA, Indonesia--Mining activities at Freeport-McMoRan's (FCX) unit in an eastern Indonesian province haven't been affected by a recent accident that claimed one life.

"Our (mining) operations are running normally," Ledy Simarmata, spokeswoman for PT Freeport Indonesia, told The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

Ms. Simarmata said the incident took place in an underground mine, which the local unit of the U.S. mining giant is still developing and hasn't produced ore. She, however, said development work is suspended as the company, along with a government team, investigate the incident.

The company said over the weekend that an Indonesian worker was killed by falling rocks while working at the underground mine Grasberg Block Cave on Friday. It said another worker involved in the incident escaped and survived.

PT Freeport Indonesia was forced to halt mining at its massive Grasberg mine in Papua in May 2013 after 28 workers were killed when an underground tunnel collapsed. The accident occurred outside of production areas, but Freeport halted operations at all its area mines.

The company is developing the underground mine as open-pit mining will end late 2016. It expects underground mining to yield about 160,000 metric tons of ore a day.

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