Precedence: bulk INDONESIA TO WATCH FREEPORT ON PRODUCTION JAKARTA, April 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia confirmed on Friday it had approved PT Freeport Indonesia to increase daily production to 300,000 tonnes of copper ore at its Grasberg copper and gold mine in Irian Jaya. 'We have approved Freeport to increase production but we will monitor closely its operations -- whether it follows the rules or not," Mines and Energy Minister Kuntoro Mangkusubroto told reporters. He said the government approved Freeport to increase production from April 1. "We will evaluate the level of copper recovery every five years," he said. Freeport, majority-owned by U.S.-based Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, has rights to exploit the world's largest known copper and gold reserves at a vast mine in remote Irian Jaya. It produced three million ounces of gold and 1.7 billion pounds of copper last year. In February, Freeport doubled the royalties it pays the Indonesian government on copper output from Grasberg, as it lobbied to be allowed to increase production. Although Freeport has been given permission to increase production capacity, this will not translate into a significant increase in output for some time, as the mine will first have to expand its capacity ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
