Indonesie Forum

Indonesia's mines ministry could recommend as early as this week that Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold receive a reprieve from a controversial tax that has halted copper exports for more than two months, a government official told Reuters.

Freeport and fellow U.S. miner Newmont Mining Corp have refused to pay an export tax on mineral concentrates imposed in January, which rises from 25 percent this year to up to 60 percent by the second half of 2016, saying it breaches their contracts.

To win the tax reprieve, Freeport must pay the government a 5 percent security bond for the construction of a smelter and finalise supply agreements with smelter-building companies, said Sukhyar, director general of coal and minerals for the mines ministry.

"After (meeting those conditions) ... I will ask the ministry of finance to reduce, discount or even eliminate the export tax," he said after a book launching event over the weekend in Jakarta.