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TIMIKA, Indonesia: Operations have resumed at the world’s largest gold mine in Indonesia, announced the company running it on Saturday (August 29), after staff blocked the site to protest because they had been prevented from visiting their families due to virus problems. .
Miners at the Grasberg complex in the country’s easternmost region of Papua reached an agreement with U. S. operator Freeport, who said he would resume bus transportation for staff to return home.
This week, more than 1,000 workers demonstrated on the mine’s main front about the resolution to cancel the bus to Timika city in reaction to considerations about the spread of coronavirus infections.
Many staff members had not been able to leave the high-altitude open pit mine which is also a primary copper mine for six months.
Freeport spokeswoman Riza Pratama told AFP Saturday that the hurdle had risen after a long negotiation.
Several buses left the mine on Friday night, dressed as those given permission, said local corporate spokesman Kerry Yarangga.
These buses will be controlled with strict fitness protocols, adding Covid-19 tests, Yarangga said.
In May, Freeport said that would be the number of workers at the mine, which hired about 25,000 people, following the accumulation of infections in the area.