Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) is committed to renewing the labor contracts for its Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia, a company spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Workers at the company's Grasberg mine may strike as contract negotiations appear deadlocked, according to news reports. Freeport is the world's largest listed copper-mining company.

The union and the company began contract negotiations in July, after workers held a strike at the mine. The current contracts expire in October.

"PT Freeport Indonesia continues to work in good faith to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement for the renewal of the Collective Labor Agreement," a Freeport McMoran spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

About 35 million pounds of copper were lost in the July strike at Grasberg, the company has said. During that strike, the workers demanded higher pay.

In January, Freeport forecast 2011 sales from Grasberg at one billion pounds of copper and 1.3 million troy ounces of gold, compared with 2010 sales of 1.2 billion pounds of copper and 1.8 million ounces of gold. The mine is one of the biggest copper and gold producers in the world, with mining operations set to move underground in mid-2015.

Freeport owns 90.64% of PT Freeport Indonesia, the principal operating subsidiary in Indonesia, including a 9.36% stake through its wholly owned subsidiary, PT Indocopper Investama. The government of Indonesia owns the remaining 9.36% of PT Freeport Indonesia.

-By Tatyana Shumsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3095; tatyana.shumsky@dowjones.com

--Denden Sundrajat contributed to this article.

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