Grasberg operations unaffected by Papua quake: Freeport
Friday, September 9 2005 - 11:56 PM WIB
U.S. miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. on Friday said that a major earthquake in Papua New Guinea overnight did not affect a subsidiary's production of copper and gold at its huge Grasberg mine in the neighboring Papua province of Indonesia, the Reuters reported from New York late Friday.
"There was no impact to operations," a Freeport spokesman said.
A 7.3 magnitude quake shook parts of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage, officials said.
However, efforts to contact people in remote areas near the quake were being hindered by poor communication lines, said one official.
PT Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg mine in the rugged eastern Papua province of Indonesia has one of the world's largest reserves of copper and gold.
The Papua province shares the same island with Papua New Guinea, which lies just to the east of Indonesia.(*)