Renegotiating Freeport

In the past six months, Richard Adkerson, CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, the US-based mining giant, has paid two visits to the Coordinating Economic Minister's office in Lapangan Banteng, Central Jakarta. The first time, at the end of January, he met then Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa and other ministers with economic portfolios.

Adkerson spent several hours on a presentation about the financial performance of Freeport's business in Papua, where the company operates one of the world's largest and most lucrative mines. He complained that Indonesia's policy of banning mineral ore exports and imposing export duties was an unfair burden for his firm. But the government flatly denied his request for relief from the newly enforced regulations.