I wonder what the hold-up is? If memory serves, the government and FCX are on very good terms and have been working together toward moving Indonesia further up the copper value chain.*
From Reuters via Yahoo Finance, July 6:
Copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, a unit of Freeport-McMoran, said on Thursday it has not yet obtained a government permit to continue exporting its materials, risking overcapacity at its storage facilities in the eastern region of Papua.
Indonesia in June banned exports of raw minerals to attract investment into its metals processing industry and boost the value of its exports, but said it would allow several companies including Freeport to continue exporting until mid-2024.
"Without an export permit, it certainly would result in the suspension of Freeport Indonesia activities, which will have a significant impact on the overall operational activities and sales of mining products," said Freeport Indonesia's spokesperson Katri Krisnati.....
Indonesia to Ban Copper Exports Once Freeport, Amman Plants Open
Indonesia will stop exporting copper concentrates as soon as Freeport Indonesia and Amman Mineral Internasional finish building smelters next year.
“If these two big companies complete their smelters, that means we will no longer export raw copper because it will be processed domestically to become copper cathodes,” said President Joko Widodo in a speech on Tuesday. He expects both facilities to start producing in May 2024....
....MORE
Earlier this year Panama wanted more money from First Quantum Minerals for production at their big mine and one of the levers they used was was shipping permits:
Panama gives First Quantum go-ahead to operate port terminal
And stuff was mined but not shipped with the threat that as storage space was filled mining would have to stop. But that was in no one's best interests so:
Copper Supply: "First Quantum resumes operations at Panama copper mine"
Our comment on this supply disruption a couple weeks ago:
We didn't relay much of the First Quantum/Panama saga, thinking that one way or another that deposit was going to get mined, Panama needs the revenue.
And from Reuters via Mining.com, March 15:
....MUCH MOREFirst Quantum Minerals, the operator of the Cobre Panama mine, has resumed operations to normal levels at the mine, gold-focused royalty and streaming company Franco-Nevada Corp said on Wednesday.
Franco-Nevada has contributed a total of $1.36 billion to the construction of Cobre Panama and the mine accounted for 18% of the company’s revenue in 2021. Copper miner First Quantum owns a 90% interest in the mine through its unit Minera Panama SA (MPSA)....
Related in spirit (moving up the value chain), yesterday's "Australia and Indonesia have signed a ‘win-win’ EV battery deal, analyst says".
