Minister Of Energy And Mineral Resources Reveals Freeport's GBC Mining Limited Operations In April 2026

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia targets the underground mine Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) owned by PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), which collapsed in early September 2025, to start operating in a limited manner in April 2026.

"At the point where the disaster is problematic, our team is still evaluating. We are targeting maybe the 3rd month, next 4 months to operate," said Bahlil as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, November 14.

The government's current focus is to find out the cause of the wet ore mud landslide at GBC Freeport, conduct an audit of the mine with a team of experts, compile recommendations, and make improvements based on the recommendations provided.

"After that, then production will be carried out," he said.

Bahlil emphasized that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources does not want Freeport's mining evaluation to take place in a hurry, because the security of the mining site concerns the safety of workers.

He does not want any casualties caused by mistakes or in-depth evaluations.

"Later, who is responsible? This is people's lives, not business matters, people's lives," he said.

Bahlil's statement is in line with Freeport McMoRan Inc's official statement.

Freeport McMoRan Inc. estimates GBC operations will begin in three production blocks in stages, starting by PB2 in the first half of 2026, followed by PB3 and PB1S in the second half of 2026, then PB1C in 2027.

Freeport said the ore mud landslide incident that occurred in early September had damaged a number of production support infrastructures in the GBC area.

As a result, PTFI was forced to postpone production activities in the short term in the fourth quarter of 2025 to throughout 2026 in the mining area.

On Thursday (13/11/2025), the Director General of Mineral and Coal of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Tri Winarno, said that two mining sites of PT Freeport Indonesia, which were not affected by the GBC landslide, namely Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ) and Big Gossan, began operating.

Even though it is operational, Tri said the two mine sites have not yet produced.

Later, when the two mining sites return to production, the mining results will be fully absorbed by the Freeport smelter located in Gresik, East Java.

Based on Freeport Indonesia records, the company's average ore production in 2024 will reach 208,356 tons per day, consisting of copper, gold, and silver.

GBC merupakan salah satu zona tambang bawah tanah yang dikelola oleh Freeport.

Adapun lokasi pertambangan lainnya yang dikelola Freeport, yakni DMLZ dan Big Gossan.

Dikutip dari laporan resmi Freeport, produksi konsentrat GBC sekitar 133.800 ton per hari, DMLZ sekitar 64.900 ton per hari, dan Big Gossan sekitar 8.000 ton per hari.

Dengan demikian produksi GBC sekitar 64 persen dari kapasitas keseluruhan Freeport Indonesia.

GBC is one of the underground mining zones managed by Freeport.

The other mining locations that are managed by Freeport are DMLZ and Big Gossan.

Quoted from Freeport's official report, GBC's concentrate production is around 133,800 tons per day, DMLZ is around 64,900 tons per day, and Big Gossan is around 8,000 tons per day.

Thus, GBC production is around 64 percent of Freeport Indonesia's overall capacity.