TMCnet News
DJ Freeport Indonesia Mine Resumes Ops As Blockade Dropped(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)JAKARTA, Feb 25, 2006 (Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex) --Work resumed at the world's largest gold mine, after protesters blockading the mine in Indonesia's Papua province agreed to end the standoff. The mine's operator - PT Freeport Indonesia, an affiliate of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) of New Orleans - was forced to shut the mine Wednesday when about 500 locals set up barricades and demanded permission to sift through waste ore. "The protesters agreed to remove the barricades today," police spokesman Col. Kartono Wangsadisastra said on Saturday. Budiman Moerdijat, a Freeport spokesman, said work resumed Saturday afternoon. The police spokesman said protesters' demands included "the improvement of economic, educational and health conditions" of local people, and an undertaking by the mining company to employ more locals at the mine. The Grasberg mine, the largest gold mine in the world and the third largest copper mine, opened in 1973. Freeport estimates the mine, 3,700 kilometers east of Jakarta, could continue operating for decades to come. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 02-25-06 0559ET |