Freeport Boss Meets President Jokowi, Discusses Contract Extension?

FREEPORT - JAKARTA. The boss of mining company Freeport met with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Presidential Palace, Thursday (28/3).

They are Chairman & CEO of Freeport McMoran Inc Richard C Adkerson, CFO of Freeport Mc-Moran Kathleen L. Quirk, and President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) Tony Wenas. 

Tony Wenas said, they conveyed the latest developments from the mining situation upstream.

In addition, the meeting also discussed the copper smelter project owned by PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) located in the JIIPE Area, Gresik.

"The smelter progress has reached more than 92% with the hope of being completed in May and immediately operating in June this year and will be fully operational in 2024," said Tony at the Presidential Palace, Thursday (28/3).

Read Also: Freeport Smelter Project Ready to Operate by June 2024

Tony admitted, there was no discussion about the extension of Freeport's contract.  "It was mentioned a little but we didn't discuss the details because the time was not long, it had been discussed before," said Tony.

Furthermore, PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) hopes for the relaxation of copper concentrate export permits to be extended.

As is known, the export permit for Freeport Indonesia's copper concentrate will expire in May 2024.

Tony mentioned, the discussion of the extension of the export permit was discussed at the ministerial level. According to him, there will be an impact if the relaxation of the copper concentrate export permit is not extended.

"If we can't export (copper concentrate) the state's revenue will decrease by approximately US$ 2 billion, Rp 30 trillion decrease, in the period from June to December," said Tony.