Jakarta (ANTARA) - Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Minister Bahlil Lahadalia announced that PT Freeport Indonesia has suspended all production activities to focus on locating seven workers trapped in an underground mine following a landslide.

Speaking in Jakarta on Wednesday, Lahadalia said the search efforts are ongoing but hindered by adverse weather conditions.

“The weather remains unfavorable, especially since the incident occurred underground. All Freeport production activities have been halted, and everyone is focused on locating the victims,” he said.

He added that his ministry has deployed a team to accelerate the rescue process and is in close communication with Freeport’s management.

“We’re working on-site full-time. Tony Wenas (President Director of Freeport Indonesia) spoke with me yesterday, and all efforts are concentrated on addressing the landslide,” Lahadalia said.

Earlier, Wenas stated that his team was mobilizing all available resources to rescue the seven workers still trapped in the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) underground mine in Tembagapura, Mimika, Central Papua.

He noted that the greatest challenge in the evacuation effort is the large volume of wet ore mud that has inundated the GBC underground mine.

The landslide involving wet ore mud occurred in the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) Extraction 28-30 Panel area of the underground mine in Tembagapura, Mimika District, on September 8, 2025, at approximately 10:00 PM local time.

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