Freeport finds copper and gold in Erstberg East

Copper and gold mining company PT Freeport Indonesia (FI) has discovered a new geological resource containing up to 1.1 billion pounds of copper and 2.5 million ounces of gold at the Erstberg East area in Irian Jaya.

American mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, which holds the majority shares in the company, said the new resource, previously called Guru Ridge and now Erstberg East Surface, is located at the surface and in close proximity to the Intermediate Ore Zone (IOZ) and Deep Ore Zone (DOZ), Dom and Erstberg Stockwerk Zone (ESZ) deposits in the Erstberg area.

FI has been conducting underground mining to extract the IOZ, DOZ, Dom copper and gold deposits, but the ESZ deposit remain undeveloped.

"Exploration drilling and a preliminary study of the Erstberg East Surface resource indicate that open-pit mining appears promising and Freeport continues to study the feasibility of this surface target for possible near-term development," Freeport McMoRan said in a statement released on Friday (Jakarta time).

The company said it is studying the possibility of developing the Erstberg East Surface in conjunction of the development of IOZ, DOZ, Dom and ESZ to create a large-scale open pit and underground mining complex encompassing 500 million tons of ore.

FI's main operation is located in the Grasberg area, where the company operates a giant open-pit mining complex. But, it is also conducting underground mining at Erstberg East, formerly known as East Ore Mountain or Gunung Bijih Timur in Indonesian. (Bodega)