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Investing.com-- Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX) said on Tuesday that it had suspended operations at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia– one of the world’s biggest copper mines– after a landslide left seven miners trapped underground.
Freeport said in a press release that a large flow of wet material from a drawpoint occurred at a production block in the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine, blocking access to certain areas and trapping seven miners underground.
“The location of the workers is known, and they are believed to be safe. Crews are working to clear the area for a safe and expeditious evacuation. In parallel, activities are underway to provide support to the workers,” Freeport said.
All other personnel are confirmed to be safe, but mining operations in the mine were temporarily suspended to prioritize the safe evacuation of the workers.
Grasberg, which is jointly owned by Freeport and the Indonesian government, is one of the world’s biggest copper mines by reserves. The mine produced about 816,466 tonnes of copper in 2024, representing roughly 3.6% of global mined copper output.
Any extended outages at the mine stand to curb the supply of copper, which is a key industrial metal and a major part of the global clean energy transition. Grasberg is the second-largest copper mine in the world, behind Chile’s Escondida.
Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2% to $9,943.45 a ton in Asian trade on Tuesday.