Minister Bahlil Urges Freeport to Purchase Copper Concentrate from Amman Mineral
Fri 14 Nov 2025, 05:48 AM
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Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia has asked PT Freeport Indonesia to purchase copper concentrate from PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara (AMNT).
“Yesterday I asked Mr. Tony (PT Freeport Indonesia President Director Tony Wenas)—Mr. Tony met with me, and I requested that Amman and Freeport engage in B2B (business-to-business) communication so that Freeport can buy their material to be processed at Freeport’s smelter at an economical price,” Bahlil said when met at the ESDM Ministry Office in Jakarta, Friday.
However, Bahlil continued, the Ministry of ESDM cannot intervene further, because the sale and purchase of concentrate is a matter between businesses.
“The government is merely a regulator, and it shouldn’t interfere in business-to-business matters,” he said.
The statement relates to the relaxation of copper concentrate exports for PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara (AMNT) for six months while waiting for the completion of smelter repairs.
Bahlil explained that the force majeure at Amman Mineral’s smelter occurred before the landslide incident at the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) mine site.
Amman Mineral’s smelter operations were temporarily halted since the end of July 2025 due to force majeure, while the wet ore mud slide at Freeport’s GBC occurred on September 8, 2025.
“Amman submitted (the relaxation request) before the accident at Freeport occurred,” Bahlil said.
Amman Mineral has received an export recommendation letter for copper concentrate from the ESDM Ministry on Saturday (Nov 1).
The permit is valid for six months, or until April 2026, with a total quota of 480,000 dry metric tons.
On the other hand, Freeport’s smelter is not operating because it has not received concentrate supply, as Freeport suspended its mining operations after the wet ore mud slide occurred in the underground mining area of the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) Extraction 28–30 Panel, Tembagapura, Mimika Regency, Central Papua, on September 8, 2025.
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