Jakarta. Gold and copper miner Freeport Indonesia is waiting on the government’s evaluation of its export permit for copper concentrate, a decision that will determine whether the miner can continue shipping the commodity abroad after September, when its current license expires.

Chief Executive Officer Tony Wenas said the company, majority-owned by state mining holding MIND ID, is closely watching the government’s review. “The permit is subject to evaluation. That’s what we’re waiting for,” Wenas told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Indonesia banned raw mineral exports last year to spur domestic processing. Freeport built a $3 billion copper and gold smelter in Gresik, East Java, to maintain export permits, but operations have been hampered since an October 2024 fire, leaving the company with mounting concentrate stockpiles

Authorities temporarily relaxed the export ban to ease the bottleneck, but tied the permit extension to Freeport’s ability to bring its Gresik smelter back online by September 2025. A separate disruption at an oxygen plant operated by PT Smelting, Freeport’s older refining partner, has also stalled processing of about 100,000 tons of concentrate.

Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Yuliot Tanjung signaled Jakarta is unlikely to grant further leniency. “The relaxation already given was long enough, more than six months,” he said. “It was only meant to address the force majeure. If repairs are completed, there should be no extension.”

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