Information AboutFreeport-mcmoran |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FREEPORT-MCMORAN | |
| mining companies of the united states | |
| gold mining companies | |
| companies based in arizona | |
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Best known for its Grasberg Mine in West Papua , Indonesia , the company is the largest tax payer to the Indonesian government; mines and mills ore containing copper, gold and silver for the world market; and denies allegations of on-going human rights abuses and theft of native properties. The company's wealth stems from a mining license agreement signed in 1967. The original license sold to the US company Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., including mining rights for 30 km2. The company holds a 30 year exclusive mining license for the region from the official opening of the mine (1981). Locals have made several violent attempts to dissuade the mine owners, including blowing up a pipeline in July, but order was quickly restored. In 1989 the mining license was extended to an additional 25,000 km2. In 2003 the company was forced to admit it had been paying the local Indonesian military to keep the native landowners away from their lands. In 2005, '' The New York Times '' reported that company records showed the total amount paid between 1998 and 2004 amounted to nearly 20 million USD, distributed among both officers and units, with one individual receiving up to 150,000 USD. The company response was that there was "no alternative to our reliance on the Indonesian military and police in this regard". Eyewitness reports of abuses, and repeated statements from the local land owners for over twenty years that they wish the mine and the Indonesians to leave their lands seem incongruous with company statements. Freeport is only one of the foreign mining operations in Indonesia with questionable human and native rights records. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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