A gold and copper mining company operating in Indonesia's Papua region is cutting costs and jobs, in response to the global economic recession and the falling price of copper, despite a protest by the workers union.
According to the Jakarta Post, a spokesman for PT Freeport Indonesia Mindo Pangaribuan said that cost-efficiency measures would include a moratorium on recruiting non-essential staff and laying off as many as 75 employees at the Jakarta headquarters, among other things.
Contracting companies affiliated with Freeport have also carried out cost-cutting measures by laying off some workers.
He said the company hoped to produce 1-point-3 billion pounds of copper, and 2-point-1 million ounces of gold this year.