Grasberg Disaster Underscores How Fragile the Supply Chain of Copper Is
Early in September, a mud rush estimated to be 800,000 tons erupted and quickly swept through a large section of the Grasberg mine owned by Freeport-McMoRan in Indonesia. Two workers are confirmed to have died in this disaster and five more are still missing. Grasberg ranks as the number two largest copper mine around the globe, and its output in 2024 accounted for 4% of the total output around the world. Right now, operations at the mine have been suspended as all focus goes to locating the missing employees. Freeport estimates that at the earliest, normal operations at the mine…
