Jakarta. Mining giant Freeport Indonesia recently said that getting its business permit extended would be a great boon to Indonesia, saying that the company had made huge contributions to the country over the years.

Freeport Indonesia’s president director Tony Wenas recently said that his company had been upholding environmentally responsible practices, while also paying attention to the local communities. 

“No company can succeed if it fails to take care of the people and environment. We have to grow together with the people while also caring for the planet,” Tony recently told Investor Daily. 

Freeport has operated in Indonesia for the past 5 decades, and it has given a boost to the country’s economy. From 1992 to 2023, Freeport contributed $29.3 billion in taxes, royalties, and dividends. The company contributed in indirect payments worth $64.9 billion in domestic purchases, employee salaries, community development, and regional development. Freeport has also distributed $2.1 billion in community development over the said period. This includes free healthcare services, scholarships, educational infrastructure and operations, hospitals and other social facilities. 

Freeport reported that domestic products represented 90 percent of its goods and services procurement. Freeport also generated job opportunities for 30,471 people as of late May. As many as 41 percent of those workers are Papuans. The company also promises to double the Papuan participation in its strategic positions. 

The company has budgeted around Rp 1.6 trillion annually for various community development programs until the end of the company’s operations. “If our operations stop in 2041, that's it, but if it is extended again, the program will continue," Tony said.

Freeport has submitted a mine closure document to the government, which lays out how the company carries out its reclamation, rehabilitation and other programs. Tony hopes that the government can extend Freeport’s permit until 2061 so Indonesia can feel the benefits of its presence for much longer. 

The government’s negotiations with Freeport McMoran -- who now holds 49 percent of the shares -- in the company are set to be complete soon. According to Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif, the government plans to issue the extended permit as soon as possible to give Freeport better certainty. The company’s production is set to peak in 2035. Such certainty is also key to supporting the exploration activities at the Grasberg underground mine.

Freeport said its operations already had a legal umbrella, namely the 2024 government regulation on mineral and coal mining business activities. The government may only extend the permit once the Indonesian shares within the permit holder reaches at least 51 percent. It must also enter a share sale and purchase agreement of at least 10 percent of the shares owned by state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo already hinted at the possibility of the permit extension when he met Freeport McMoran’s chief executive officer Richard Adkerson in Washington DC last year. 

"I am pleased to hear that discussions for Indonesia to get an additional 10 percent share in Freeport -- as well as the possibility of extending the mining permit by 20 years -- have reached the final stage,” Jokowi told Adkerson at the time.