announced plans to restore large-scale production at its Grasberg operations in Central Papua, Indonesia, following a September 2025 incident that affected the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine.
The company commenced production from unaffected Deep Mill Level Zone and Big Gossan underground mines in late October 2025, according to a press release statement. Remediation activities are underway to prepare for a phased restart of the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine beginning in the second quarter of 2026.
“Our team is committed to restoring large-scale, low-cost production at Grasberg in a safe, efficient and responsible manner,” said Kathleen Quirk, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We have incorporated the learnings from the recent tragic incident into our future plans and are implementing several initiatives to address the conditions that led to the incident.”
Under the restart plans, Freeport expects PT Freeport Indonesia’s 2026 production from the Grasberg minerals district to approximate 1.0 billion pounds of and 0.9 million ounces of , similar to estimated 2025 volumes. The company projects production will increase throughout 2026 and 2027, with average annual production of approximately 1.6 billion pounds of copper and 1.3 million ounces of gold for the three-year period 2027-2029.
The Grasberg minerals district represents one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits. Freeport operates mining assets globally, including operations in the United States and South America.
The company held a conference call with securities analysts to review the incident and discuss future operating plans.
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