Freeport's Grasberg mine has one of the biggest copper and gold reserves in the world.
The accident has had no effect on the open mining pit at Grasberg, he adds.
The collapse occurred at the Big Gossan underground mine, about a kilometer away from Grasberg.
He also found the world's largest gold and copper mine: the Grasberg Mine in Indonesia.
And Freeport McMoRan, Grasberg's owner, claims to be the largest single taxpayer to the Indonesian government.
The company cut its full-year copper production outlook in response to continued disruptions in its cash-cow, the Grasberg mine.
FORBES: Freeport McMoran Beats Despite Plummeting Copper And Grasberg Strike
This Grasberg news came when the Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah was already shut down after a landslide last month.
FORBES: Industrial Metals Tumble After Soft Chinese Data; Gold Up As Equities Slide
Besides the Grasberg mines in Indonesia, FCX has significant and diversified mining operations in North and South Americas, and Africa.
FORBES: Freeport McMoRan Worth $62 Despite Indonesian Shake Down
Mining firm Freeport said at least four miners were rescued at its Grasberg mine after an underground tunnel collapsed early on Tuesday.
The production of gold from the Grasberg mine alone is expected to rise by 40% higher than the levels seen in 2012.
FORBES: Freeport Banks Future On Better Copper Production And Energy Exploration
Sales rose again in 2009 to a high of 2.64 million with accelerated mining in higher grade sections of the Grasberg mines.
Virga said if the Grasberg strike is extended again, an additional 15 to 24 million pounds of copper production could be lost.
FORBES: Freeport Strikes Further Limiting Supply For Copper Market
Half of the workers at Grasberg, one of the largest copper- and gold-producing mines in the world, stepped off the job in mid-September.
FORBES: Analysts Look For Decline In 2011 Global Copper-Mine Production
Its portfolio of assets includes the fabled Grasberg mineral district in Indonesia which has the single largest recoverable deposits of copper and gold.
Police say four miners died and 10 others were evacuated after the tunnel caved in at Freeport's Grasberg mine, in the eastern province of Papua.
Apart from a cooling global economy and the prospects of soft landing in China, Freeport faced labor disputes, particularly in its Grasberg mine in Indonesia.
FORBES: Freeport McMoran Beats Despite Plummeting Copper And Grasberg Strike
Disasters such as Grasberg's mudslides also took their toll on production.
Media reports have suggested a possible resolution could occur next week in the Peruvian strike, but the strike at Grasberg has been extended until Dec. 15.
FORBES: Analysts Look For Decline In 2011 Global Copper-Mine Production
Sales decreased from 2.32 million ounces in 2007 to 1.31 million ounces in 2008 due to mining in the lower grade section of the Grasberg open pit.
Moffett was the founder and chairman of Freeport-McMoRan in 1981, and in 1988 led the company to a giant gold discovery at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia.
FORBES: Freeport-McMoRan Rescues McMoRan Exploration In $20 Billion Gulf Of Mexico Deal
There is no end in sight for the Grasberg strike.
FORBES: Freeport Strikes Further Limiting Supply For Copper Market
This 51% ownership rule will cause a 14% reduction on copper reserves and a 49% reduction on gold reserves and no impact on molybdenum, as Grasberg has no molybdenum.
FORBES: Freeport McMoRan Worth $62 Despite Indonesian Shake Down
He has also told us he plans to follow the model he used for the development of the Grasberg Mine at Freeport Copper and Gold (FCX) years ago.
FORBES: A Little Bit Louder Now, Chevron Starts To Shout About Davy Jones And The Ultra Deep
It was Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold's discovery and development of Grasberg that propelled that company to be able to take over Phelps Dodge a little more than a year ago.
While the strike at Cerro Verde has not had affected production as seriously as Grasberg, Freeport is working with a skeleton crew of workers which could eventually take its toll on production.
FORBES: Freeport Strikes Further Limiting Supply For Copper Market
Freeport blamed this drop largely on changes to mine plans at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, which delayed access to higher-grade material, and a slower-than-expected ramp-up at the Deep Ore Zone underground mind.
The growth in production next year will come from the Grasberg mine in Indonesia as well as brownfield expansion programs at Morenci in North America, Cerro Verde in South America, and Tenke Fungurume in Africa.
FORBES: Freeport Banks Future On Better Copper Production And Energy Exploration
Freeport Indonesia said in February that it expected output from the Grasberg mine to rise 30% this year, after falling around 40% last year due to strikes and its mining an area with lower mineral content.
Based in Pheonix, Phelps Dodge has copper mining operations in the U.S., Chile, Peru and Congo, while New Orleans-based Freeport operates the vast open-pit Grasberg gold, copper, and silver mine in Indonesia, and has reserves of about 37 billion pounds of copper and 40 million ounces of gold.
应用推荐