Jakarta. Freeport Indonesia’s (PTFI) copper and gold production at its Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) mine in Papua is expected to resume by mid-2026, a local official said, as the company continues recovery work following a deadly landslide that halted underground operations last month.

Mimika Regent Johannes Rettob said the restart timeline will depend on an investigation by the Mining Inspectorate at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry (ESDM), which is still underway. “Everything depends on the results of the inspector’s investigation. That’s what we’re waiting for,” Rettob told reporters in Timika on Tuesday.

According to reports submitted by Freeport’s management to the Mimika administration, the cleanup and restoration of the landslide-affected zone in the GBC mine could take six to eight months. The incident, which involved an estimated 800,000 tons of wet material flooding nearly one kilometer of the underground mining area, has severely disrupted operations at one of the world’s largest underground mines.

GBC alone accounted for roughly 60 percent of Freeport’s total ore output before the accident. Company records show Freeport produced an average of 208,356 tons of ore per day in 2024 across its three underground sites: Grasberg Block Cave, Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ), and Big Gossan. Of that total, GBC contributed about 133,800 tons daily, while DMLZ produced 64,900 tons and Big Gossan 8,000 tons.

“At this stage, Freeport estimates that full operations at GBC may resume around mid-2026,” Rettob said. “The recovery process will take several months of continuous work.”

The landslide on Sept. 8 claimed the lives of seven contractor workers. Rettob offered condolences on behalf of the local government and residents. “On behalf of the Mimika administration and all the people of Mimika, we extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families,” he said.

Freeport’s emergency response teams had worked around the clock for weeks to locate the missing workers, whose bodies were eventually recovered between Sept. 20 and Oct. 5. Rettob commended the company’s swift and coordinated rescue efforts. “What Freeport has done is extraordinary. The company truly cared for its employees and their families,” he said.

The victims included Indonesian nationals Wigih Hartono, Irawan, Zaverius Magai, Holong Gembira Silaban, and Dadang Hermanto, along with two foreign contractors --Balisang Telile from South Africa and Victor Bastida Ballesteros from Chile.

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