Reply #35: $US1bn payment to Indonesians sparks scrutiny [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/us1bn-payment-to-indonesians-sparks-scrutiny/2006/01/18/1137553652087.html

FREEPORT-McMoRan Copper & Gold paid Indonesia about $US1billion ($A1.33 billion) since 2004, including a sum for security at the Grasberg mine in Irian Jaya that has sparked a US Government inquiry, according to its chief executive, Richard Adkerson.

All payments were fully disclosed, and New Orleans-based Freeport spent about $US7 million a year to guard the mine, Mr Adkerson said.

Between 1998 and 2004, Freeport paid military and police officials almost $20 million, the New York Times reported last month, citing company records it had obtained.

"The amounts we're talking about are not unreasonable," Mr Adkerson said. He was not not sure where the amounts reported in Times came from.

The US Government had made inquiries since the article and an editorial were published, Mr Adkerson said. The $US1 billion in payments includes taxes, royalties and profit from the Government's 9.36 per cent stake in Grasberg, the world's biggest gold and second-biggest copper mine.

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