New minister promises legal certainty for Freeport
Saturday, July 30 2016 - 06:20 AM WIB
Newly-appointed Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arcandra Tahar pledged to provide legal certainty for gold and mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia, a local subsidiary of US-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
?We?ll ensure legal certainty for PT Freeport,? Arcandra said Friday during a gathering with the press.
The minister said that he would try to make sure that investors in the country to run their businesses in accordance with existing regulations and laws.
Arcandra did not provide further details.
PT Freeport, which operates the giant Grasberg mine in Papua, is seeking for an early extension of its existing contract of work, which is set to expire in 2021. But the current Government Regulation No 77/2014 stipulates that request for contract extension can only be made two years before the expiry of the contract, or 2019.
The company, however, is seeking to extend its contract sooner to ensure certainty for a planned investment of about US$15 billion-$16 billion to develop underground mine in Papua.
The current Law No 4/2009 also requires PT Freeport to develop domestic smelter. The company has yet to realize the smelter project, while the government has previously set a deadline for domestic smelters to be completed by next year.
The House of Representatives is planning to revise the mining law, which may include a revision of the domestic smelter requirement.
Director General of Mineral and Coal Bambang Gatot Ariyono said that if Freeport wants to make a request for early contract extension, the Government Regulation No 77/2014, or the mining law must be first be revised.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak