Grasberg copper shipments continue as normal: Report

Shipments from Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s (FCX) Grasberg mine in Indonesia are continuing as normal despite the halt to production at both the mill and mine earlier Wednesday, the company told Dow Jones Newswires.

"Copper concentrate shipments to our customers are continuing as normal," FCX spokesman William Collier said. "Around 50% of concentrate produced at Grasberg go to FCX's Gresik smelter and its Atlantic Copper operations in Spain. The remainder is sold to customers in Asia and Europe."

The suspension could cost some 1,800 metric tons of copper and 9,000 troy ounces of gold production a day. Copper production in the fourth quarter of 2005 was 212,000 tons, while gold output was 1.1 million ounces.

Collier said it was "too early to tell" how long the disruption may last. "The focus is on getting the situation resolved quickly and peacefully. The Indonesian government is working hard to resolve the matter," he said.

More than 50 illegal miners have set up wood and stone barricades on the road leading to the Grasberg mine in Indonesia's Papua province, Collier said. Mining and milling operations have been temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure.

The protest followed clashes Tuesday after police and company security guards tried to disperse the miners, who earn their living retrieving gold from waste rock dumped by the mine, Collier added.

The last time the mine closed down was in 2003, after a landslide killed several workers. (*)