Freeport given two weeks to complete working plan data

The government has given copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), a subsidiary of New Orleans-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc, two weeks to complete the necessary data on the firm's 2004 working and budget plan, a government official told Petromindo.com Wednesday.

“We will approve the company's working and budget plan only after it has been completed," said mineral resources and coal exploitation director Mahyudin Lubis. He provided no detail.

Geology and Mineral Resources Director General Simon Sembiring said earlier that he had requested Freeport to seriously observe safety aspects in its mining operation in order to avoid fatal mining accidents.

Freeport Indonesia, which operates the Grasberg open pit mine in Papua, has been strongly criticized for two mining accidents last year in which a number of mining workers were killed.

But despite the accidents, Freeport was on track to meet its annual sales of 1.33 billion pounds of copper and 2.45 million ounces of gold. (Godang)