Mine located in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, near the Ok Tedi mine. The rich copper ore was discovered in the area in 1936, the Grasberg gold-bearing ore was discovered in 1988, and production started in January 1990. The deposit originally formed the core of a 4,100 m high mountain, which has been mined by open pit methods. The mine has an airport, a port, a 119 km road, an aerial tramway, a hospital and related medical facilities, two townsites with housing, schools, and other facilities sufficient to support more than 17,000 persons. The mine produces approximately 980,000 tonnes of copper concentrate per year (copper production around 285,000 tonnes); 50 - 100 tonnes per year of gold; and 110 - 200 tonnes per year of silver.
Links
Notes
Operated by Freeport. Co-owned with the Government of Indonesia, PT Indocopper Investama Corporation and Rio Tinto.
Work force: 18,000
Production: 285 ktpa Cu; co-products Ag, Au
Start operations: 1990
Operations: open pit and underground mine;
Recipient of The Copper Mark
Koppen climate type: Af - Tropical rainforest climate
Media
- May-26:
- Freeport says Grasberg recovery not delayed until 2028, stands by 2027 forecast (checked 12-May-26)
- Freeport delays Grasberg full restart to early 2028 (checked 8-May-26)
- Apr-26: Freeport Indonesia aims to produce 1.1B lb. of copper cathode in 2026 (checked 20-Apr-26)
- Jan-26: Freeport says it’s on track to restart Grasberg mine after deadly mudslide (checked 27-Jan-26)
- Nov-25: After Deadly Accident, Freeport Aims to Restart Grasberg Copper Production by July (checked 26-Nov-25)
- Oct-25: All missing workers found dead at Freeport’s Grasberg mine (checked 8-Oct-25)
- Sep-25: Copper price spikes on Freeport’s Grasberg force majeure (checked 25-Sep-25)
Created Sep-25; updated Oct-25, Nov-25, Jan-26, Apr-26, May-26