Freeport Indonesia expects sales jump after transition to underground mine

Freeport Indonesia expects its annual copper and gold sales to jump next year as it transitions to operating in its underground mine, CEO Tony Wenas told a virtual conference on Friday.

Freeport Indonesia expects this year’s copper and gold sales to be lower than usual at 0.77 billion lbs and 0.82 million ounces respectively.

When it transitions to an underground mine, however, sales of copper in 2021 are expected to jump to 1.4 billion lbs while gold sales are expected to increase to 1.4 million ounces, Wenas said.

Freeport Indonesia, operator of Grasberg, the world’s second-biggest copper mine, is on track shift to all-underground mining by 2022.

(By Bernadette Christina Munthe and Fathin Ungku; Editing by David Goodman)