Summary
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) filed an 8-K on October 10, 2003, to report an incident at its Grasberg open pit mine in Papua, Indonesia. On October 9, 2003, a slippage of material occurred in a section of the mine. The company's affiliate, PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI), is managing the situation. While the event is not expected to materially impact long-range mine plans, management indicated that a portion of fourth-quarter 2003 sales volumes for copper and gold may be deferred to 2004. The preliminary assessment suggests the impact on 2003 projected annual volumes (1.4 billion pounds of copper and 2.6 million ounces of gold) is not expected to exceed 10%, and could be lower, depending on PT-FI's ability to regain access to higher-grade mine sites.
Key Highlights
- 1Material slippage occurred in a section of the Grasberg open pit mine in Papua, Indonesia on October 9, 2003.
- 2The incident is not expected to have a material impact on PT Freeport Indonesia's (PT-FI) long-range mine plans.
- 3A portion of Q4 2003 copper and gold sales volumes is expected to be deferred to 2004.
- 4Preliminary assessment indicates the impact on 2003 projected annual volumes may not exceed 10%.
- 5PT-FI's projected 2003 annual volumes were 1.4 billion pounds of copper and 2.6 million ounces of gold.
- 6The ultimate impact depends on PT-FI's ability to restore access to higher-grade mine sites within the Grasberg pit.