US mining company to continue operations in Indonesia

By Ainur Rohmah
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) - The Indonesian government has reached an agreement with U.S. mining company Freeport-McMoRan Inc., which will be able to keep operating its copper and gold mine in the country.
Freeport has been in dispute with the government since the beginning of the year over the rights to the mine at Grasberg in Indonesia's easternmost Papua Province -- the world’s second biggest copper mine, costing both sides hundreds of millions of dollars.
In February, the company’s local subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia halted operations due to a contract dispute.
On Tuesday, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan announced that Freeport and the government had come to an agreement in a "not easy negotiating process".
"Firstly, it is President Joko Widodo's wish that PT Freeport Indonesia can accept that they will divest 51 percent of the shares," Jonan said in a press conference in Jakarta.
He said the divestment process should be achieved as soon as possible.