Illegal miners block road leading to Freeport mine: Report

Hundreds of illegal miners were blocking the road leading to a U.S.-owned gold mine in Papua province on Wednesday, a day after they clashed with security forces and mine guards, a police spokesman was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

The protesters set up wood and stone barricades on the road leading to the mine, which is run by a local unit of New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, said Kartono Wangsadisastra.

It was unclear whether production at the massive gold mine was affected by the dispute.

Calls to Freeport spokespeople in Jakarta were not immediately answered.

The protesters earn their living retrieving gold from waste rock dumped by the mine, Kartono said.

"When we try to disperse then, they say we are not thieves because we are only sifting through rubbish," he said.On Tuesday, the miners fired arrows at police and mine security guards who tried to break up the protest. Two security guards received minor injuries, Kartono said.

The mine in the remote province has long had an uneasy relationship with local people, most of whom are desperately poor. Papua is also home to a separatist rebellion, complicating Freeport's security still further.

Security practices at the site have came under renewed scrutiny since a 2002 attack on a convoy of teachers working at the mine killed two U.S. citizens. Local and foreign rights groups claim soldiers took part in the attack, allegedly took part more security payments money from Freeport. (*)