JATAM | Mining Advocacy Network

27 July 2009

JAKARTA  - Two workers at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc's mine in Indonesia's Papua province are among seven detained on suspicion of involvement in recent attacks in which an Australian man died, police said on Monday.

It is believed to be the first time workers at the mine have been detained in connection with the attacks.

The Australian, a technical expert employed at the giant Grasberg mine, was killed earlier this month and a security guard died and others were wounded in subsequent shootings.

The mine, about 3,400 km (2,100 miles) east of Indonesia's capital of Jakarta, has been a frequent source of friction over its environmental impact, the share of revenues going to Papua and the legality of payments to Indonesian security forces who help guard the site.

Papua police spokesman Nurhaberi said two Freeport miners, Amon Yawame, 30, and Dominikus Beanal, 25, were among the seven detained as suspects.

"They are suspected of shooting at police officers and there is also a link to the shooting of the Australian," Nurhaberi said in a telephone text message to Reuters. He did not elaborate on what the link was.

The five other suspects are residents of nearby town Timika and one of them was caught carrying hundreds of bullets, the Indonesian newspaper, Tempo, reported on Monday.

Nurhaberi confirmed the report.

"It's clear there is plenty of evidence," he said, but declined to say what other evidence police had recovered.

Freeport spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan declined to comment on the detention of the two Freeport workers but said the mine was operating as normal on Monday.

The Grasberg mine has the world's largest recoverable reserves of copper and the largest gold reserves. (Reporting by Sunanda Creagh; Editing by Sara Webb)