Force Majeure at World's Second-Largest Copper Mine Lowers Supply Forecasts, Lifts Prices

September 26, 2025--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--This week, Freeport-McMoRan (Phoenix, Arizona) declared force majeure for its Grasberg copper and gold mine in Indonesia. As Freeport's largest copper mine and the second-largest in the world, the closure has significantly affected price outlooks and supply forecasts for copper. While Freeport officially declared force majeure for the mine on Wednesday, the closure stems from a September 8 incident in which, as Freeport describes, "a sudden rush of approximately 800,000 metric tons of wet material entered the mine and traveled rapidly to multiple mine levels." The incident resulted in two confirmed deaths, and five PT Freeport Indonesia workers remain missing.