Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Operations have resumed at the world’s biggest gold mine in Indonesia, the company that runs it said after workers blocked access to the site in protest to being stopped from visiting their families over virus concerns.
The miners at the Grasberg complex in the country’s easternmost Papua region reached an agreement with the US-based operator, Freeport, which said it would resume bus services for workers to return home.
This week more than 1,000 employees demonstrated at the mine’s main entrance over the decision to cancel bus services to the city of Timika in response to fears about the spread of coronavirus infections.
Many workers had been unable to leave the site – a high-altitude open pit that is also a major copper mine – for six months.
Several buses departed from the mine late on Friday, carrying some workers who had been granted a leave of absence, said local company spokesman Kerry Yarangga. (nfl/bbs)
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