Freeport: Q3 Sales To Be Lower For Copper, Gold Than Prior Estimates

(RTTNews) - Freeport (FCX) issued an update on the status of the mud rush incident at the Grasberg Block Cave mine in Indonesia. PT Freeport Indonesia has commenced an investigation to identify the cause of the incident. PTFI expects the investigation to be completed by year-end 2025. As a result of the incident and impacts on operations, PTFI is notifying commercial counterparties of a force majeure. Also, the company said, for the third quarter, FCX's consolidated sales are expected to be approximately 4% lower for copper and approximately 6% lower for gold than July 2025 estimates.

PTFI production in 2026 could potentially be approximately 35% lower than pre-incident estimates. PTFI plans to seek recovery of damages under its property and business interruption insurance policies, which cover up to $1.0 billion in losses, subject to a limit of $0.7 billion on underground incidents, after a $0.5 billion deductible.

PTFI expects the unaffected Big Gossan and Deep MLZ mines could restart operations by mid-fourth quarter 2025, with a phased restart and ramp-up of the GBC mine beginning in the first half of 2026. PTFI fourth quarter 2025 sales of copper and gold would be insignificant. Shares of Freeport are down 8% in pre-market trade on Wednesday.