Freeport, Indonesia to end years of wrangling over mining rights

Jakarta

INDONESIA on Tuesday agreed to let Freeport-McMoRan Inc keep operating its giant Grasberg copper mine, after the US company said it would cede control of its Indonesian unit, ending years of wrangling.

Freeport has been in talks with Indonesia since late 2009 to work out how to shift to a new permit for Grasberg, the world's second-biggest copper mine, as mandated in a mining law passed that year.

The company said on Tuesday it had made a "major concession and compromise" in selling a 51 per cent stake in PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI).

The…