Impact of Underground Mine Landslide, PTFI Gold and Copper Production Drops

JAKARTA - Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) reported that a landslide that occurred in PTFI's underground mine, Grasberg Block Cave (GBC), caused a decrease in gold and copper production in the fourth quarter of 2025.

It is stated that the gold production of PT Freeport Indonesia in the fourth quarter was recorded at 61,000 ounces compared to the gold production in the fourth quarter of 2024 of 428,000 ounces.

PTFI copper in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 49 million pounds, down 89 percent compared to copper production in the fourth quarter of 2024 of 429 million pounds.

When compared to annual production data, there was a decrease of 43.6 percent, from 1.8 billion pounds throughout 2024, to 1.015 billion pounds throughout 2025.

FCX management reported that at normal operating levels, PTFI's underground mine can produce about 1.7 billion pounds of copper and 1.3 million ounces of gold per year.

For information, the total copper production throughout 2025 is 1.1 billion pounds. This figure is much lower compared to the 2024 production which was recorded at 1.8 billion pounds.

Meanwhile, gold production throughout 2025 was recorded at 937,000 ounces compared to the previous year of 1.86 billion ounces.

In line with the decline in production, copper sales figures also fell to 1.2 billion pounds compared to 2024 which was recorded at 1.6 billion pounds.

Meanwhile, gold sales were recorded at 1.05 billion ounces compared to the previous year of 1.8 billion ounces.

FCX management also targets GBC to resume production in the second quarter of 2026 starting from mining activities in Block 2 and Block 3, as well as plans to operate the return of Block 1 in 2027.

Based on these estimates, Freeport Indonesia targets around 85 percent of total normal production to recover in Semester II 2026.