Freeport Indonesia's unit Smelting Gresik halts operations for furnace repairs

Freeport Indonesia CEO Tony Wenas said in a statement that the company expects the repairs to be completed in the current quarter.

The smelter is operated by PT Smelting, a joint venture 66% owned by Freeport Indonesia and 34% owned by Japan's Mitsubishi Materials.

Annual output capacity of the plant had reached 342 000 tons of copper cathode.

Following the incident, Wenas said Freeport Indonesia had adjusted its shipment schedule and would accelerate the restart of its Manyar smelter, also located in Gresik, which is expected to resume operations by the end of August, earlier than initially targeted.

"The temporary shutdown does not affect Grasberg production and Freeport Indonesia is evaluating the impact on previously announced sales forecasts," Wenas said.