Copper Miner News

Freeport-McMoRan Inc said on Wednesday it expects to "imminently" sign an agreement with Indonesia that would enable it to immediately resume copper concentrate exports which have been halted for more than six months. Freeport said on July 8 it had agreed on a draft memorandum of understanding but had not signed it. At the time, it gave no time frame on when it would resume exports. Indonesia introduced a mineral ore export ban and a steep export tax in January. The gold and copper miner also reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that were little changed from a year-ago. "It is a compromise to create a bridge for us so that we can return to normal operations," Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said of the MoU on a call with analysts and investors.

Chilean copper miner Collahuasi said on Tuesday that it has received authorization to reactivate its Patache port in the country's north following a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunami last week. "We just received authorization and a ship has already entered the port to load," Chief Executive Officer Jorge Gomez told Reuters on the sidelines of the CESCO/CRU copper conference in capital city Santiago. Gomez said the impact from the April 1 quake is "minor". (Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Chris Reese)