REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Energy and Natural Resources Ministry is yet to renew the operation permit of the copper and miner company PT Freeport Indonesia, the ministry's Deputy of Mining, Strategic Industry, and Media Fajar Harry Sampurno said.

In his statement received by Antara on Thursday, Sampurno stated that the ministry is yet to approve the company's proposal for renewing the operation permit in the country.

The company's special mining permit would end by next October, he added.

Following a change in the company's status from Works Contract to the Special Mining Permit (IUPK), Indonesia government is still arranging the operational permit format.

According to Sampurno, Indonesian government and the company have discussed four agendas, including the operation permit renewal, the smelter construction, the shares divestment, and the investment stability.

The deputy remarked that in order to continue exporting concentrates, the company is obliged to hold the special mining permit instead of Freeport's existing works contract.

Also read: Freeport asks for regulation on investment stability

The government, moreover, has requested a smelter, whose has to be completed by the company in 2022. Meanwhile, on the divestment, the company would be obliged to allocate its 51 percent shares to the companies owned by state and provincial governments.

At a different occasion, the Energy and Natural Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan hoped that the negotiation with the company would end by the end of July.

"Both parties have agreed to reach the agreement before Oct," Jonan said, at the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry in Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Jonan further stated the ministry treats Freeport like other miners, so that future regulation would apply to all foreign mining companies operated in the country.

Following the permit change, Freeport had visited the Finance Ministry to discuss the taxation scheme and the royalty for the company's forthcoming operation in the country.

Meanwhile, the company's Director and Vice President Executive Tony Wenas hoped the deal would be mutually beneficial for both the parties. 

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