JAKARTA (Feb 10): Indonesia has issued a new mining permit for the local unit of Freeport McMoRan Inc, government officials said on Friday, signalling the possible end to a month-long suspension of exports from the world's second-biggest copper mine. Indonesia halted Freeport's exports of copper concentrate on Jan 12, a suspension Freeport said would reduce output from its Grasberg mine by around 70 million pounds of copper per month. A similar permit was issued to fellow Indonesian copper miner Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara, a unit of Medco Energi Internasional, Gatot said. The new mining permit was expected to require Freeport to pay taxes and royalties that it has been exempt from, and divest up to 51% of its Indonesian unit, up from 30% under current rules. It also said the Indonesian government had given "indications" that it would allow Freeport to resume copper concentrate exports while it negotiates converting its contract to the new mining permit.

Source: The Edge Markets February 10, 2017 15:56 UTC