Grasberg hasn’t received new copper export permit

Reuters | February 18, 2019 | 10:10 am Base Metals Precious Metals Asia Copper Gold

Higher gold prices push Freeport profit above estimates

Grasberg mine, Indonesia. Source: Enterdie

JAKARTA, Feb 18 (Reuters) –

* PT Freeport Indonesia’s copper concentrate export permit expired on Feb. 15, and the company has not received export recommendations from the mining ministry that will help it to obtain a new permit, company spokesman Riza Pratama said on Monday in a text message.

* The unit of Freeport McMoRan for the time being is shipping part of its production to its smelter in East Java, Pratama said.

* He declined to disclose the new export quota it proposed to the government.

* Indonesia forecast copper concentrate exports to drop to 200,000 tonnes in 2019 from about 1.2 million tonnes last year.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; writing by Fransiska Nangoy; editing by Christian Schmollinger)