Each day of the strike at Grasberg costs Freeport-McMoran 3 million pounds of copper and 5 thousand ounces of gold

Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold reported on Wednesday that the strike at its Grasberg operations in Papua, Indonesia, which began Sept. 15, is costing the company about 3 million pounds of copper and 5 thousand ounces of gold for each day of the work stoppage.

The company says that it is negotiating a two-year extension of its bi-annual collective labour agreement, which is scheduled for renewal on September 30, 2011.

On September 15, 2011, PT-FI’s union workforce, which includes approximately 8,000 hourly employees, commenced a 30-day strike. The company says there is no legal basis for the strike under Indonesian law.

Mining, milling and concentrate shipping activities are limited by the strike. About 50% of the workforce, primarily contractors and non-union staff employees, have reported to work to maintain critical operations so that full operations can resume quickly upon conclusion of the strike.

Image shows Grasberg operations from space