Indonesia's Freeport victory sets tone for foreign miners

Jakarta

FOR many Indonesians, investment banker-turned-minister Ignasius Jonan is the man who made trains run on time.

Months after being handed the mining portfolio, the minister notched up a bigger victory; securing majority local ownership of Grasberg - one of the world's biggest gold and copper mines - following months of difficult negotiations with US giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc.