"Freeport has halted its production since Monday (July 4)," Director General of Mineral and Coal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Thamrin Sihite said here on Friday.
Thamrin had just arrived from Papua to see himself for the rallies.
He said he was denied entry into the Freeport office in Mimika as thousands of workers blocked the road leading to the office.
He asked the management of Freeport to hold negotiations with its employees soon to end the standoff.
"We assume the position as a facilitator. Hopefully, there will be good solution," he said.
Bouman Tiroi Situmorang, assistant to technical service manager of PT Smelting, said production had so far not been disrupted because it had stocks.
"The stocks are enough for two weeks," he said adding the stocks were now aboard a ship moored at a port.
PT Smelting receives concentrate loaded into four ships each carrying 20,000-22,000 tons per month.
He said the company`s daily concentrate needs reached 3,000 tons, meaning that its two-week concentrate needs were 42,000 tons.
PT Smelting would have its production disrupted if concentrate supplies from Freeport exceeded two weeks, he said.
Therefore, he expressed hope that the rallies would not last longer. "I believe Freeport can deal with the matter," he said.
Thousands of Freeport irregular workers have staged rallies since Monday, marching as far as 74 km from the Grasberg mining site in Tembagapura to the Freeport office in Kuala Kencana, Timika, Papua.
They demanded that the management of PT Freeport would not impose a third warning on six of their colleagues, having imposed a first warning on them. They also asked the company to improve their living standard.
The demonstrators plan to hold the rallies until July 11.
Last year, Freeport produced 553.4 million kg of copper and 50,745 kg of gold.
(T.K007/S012/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
