DOZ’s Impressive 25 Years Paved the Way for PTFI Future Underground Mine Operations
13 December 2021
PT Freeport Indonesia’s Deep Ore Zone Mine recently ended 25 years of operation with recognition of its impressive and unique accomplishment – and a look to the future of Grasberg.
In early December, a ceremony was held outside the Amole Shop to mark the DOZ closure as one of PTFI’s first underground mines. DOZ employees and underground leadership got together to celebrate this extraordinary achievement.
“Twenty-five years of mining is an outstanding accomplishment,” said Chris Zimmer, Senior Vice President-Mine Underground. “Our DOZ employees were on the forefront of mining advancements over the years. The experiences that we've gained in the DOZ – mining a large block cave, navigating the wet muck and overcoming all those challenges – are helping us in the GBC and the Deep MLZ.”
The DOZ mine was first developed in 1996 as part of PTFI’s engineering strategy to mine Grasberg’s unique mineral reserves. In 2000, the DOZ delivered its first ore, and in its heyday, produced an average of 80,000 tons daily.
The DOZ’s massive high-grade reserves made mining desirable, but Papua’s high rainfall and the location of Grasberg’s ore body brought a difficult challenge: a very wet underground mine resulting in wet muck. The DOZ engineering team worked tirelessly to ensure the ore was mined safely, even though that meant slower production and a longer mine cycle.
The wet muck is the main reason the company invested heavily in technological advances such as Minegem. In this autonomous ore extraction system, loader operators remotely work the loaders from the surface, keeping employees safe from wet muck threats.
Nataniel Rumaropen, General Foreman-Production Extraction, recalled a wet muck near-miss event he experienced at DOZ.
“I was so fortunate to survive a wet muck incident. I’m glad that the company has invested so much by using Minegem in our operations to keep us safe,” Rumaropen said.
Thanks to the DOZ’s valuable lessons, PTFI can continuing mining Grasberg’s high grades in the safest manner possible.
“Thanks to the technological advancements that we implement from the remote rock breaker to the loader to the water cannon, we are able to operate efficiently, and most importantly, safely because we are no longer exposing our front-line workers to danger,” said Hubertus Haluk, General Superintendent-DOZ Production.
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