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Gold/Mining/Energy : Precious and Base Metal Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (27944)	2/16/2004 1:00:55 AM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 39344

Cloud over Grasberg (from miningnews.net Monday, February 16, 2004 miningnews.net PROBLEMS at Freeport McMoran's giant Grasberg copper/gold mine in West Papua might be worse than previously thought. According to an exclusive report in the respected Far Eastern Economic Review, Freeport has started telling customers that a return to normal production is further away than expected. The impact on the world copper market could be significant as Grasberg accounts for 6.5% of the world's copper concentrates. In its report the Hong Kong-based FEER said: "The Review has learned that Japanese smelters and a major copper merchant have been told that their next shipments from Freeport won't be dispatched until June. Even then, they'll receive just 70% of the concentrate Freeport has contracted to deliver." The FEER pointed out that the warning came at a time when some analysts are tipping a 900,000 tonnes shortfall in global copper production. Following a major pit slippage late last year, the magazine said Freeport expects to shift just 100,000 tonnes of ore a day during the first quarter of 2004, down from the normal 230,000 tonnes with most material coming from low-grade pits and just 42,000 tonnes from its high-grade underground mine.