Freeport-McMoRan has yet to pay a $530-million deposit for a new Indonesian smelter, which the government is demanding before renewing the US company’s export permit for copper concentrate, government officials said on Tuesday. Freeport, which has seen its stock plummet more than 70% in the past three months as commodity markets plunge, could be forced to stop concentrate exports from its massive Grasberg copper and gold mine in the province of Papua if it fails to meet government obligations.
