Maquinaria Lorenzana S.A.

Five people are dead and 26 others trapped following a tunnel collapse at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc’s Grasberg copper-gold operation in Indonesia.

The collapse, which occurred early morning on Tuesday, May 14 in an underground training facility, at one point trapped as many as 40 employees and contractors.

Ten miners have been rescued and are in a stable condition, Bloomberg reported, citing Freeport’s local subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia.

One of the survivors has been airlifted to Jakarta for medical treatment while another five are waiting to be evacuated tomorrow, the news agency said.

The mine’s emergency and safety teams are continuing efforts to rescue the remaining workers.

According to Mining Journal’s sister publication, MiningNews.net, the employees were attending a two-day refresher course in a 5m by 10m classroom built 15 years ago.

The facility is outside Grasberg’s main underground production area, however Freeport has suspended underground operations but doesn’t expect a material effect on mining, milling operations or development work.

The mine, which employs 23,000 workers and contractors, produced 219,000t of copper and 212,000oz of gold during the March quarter.

PT Freeport Indonesia president Rozik B Soetjipto offered support to employees and their families.

"Our main priority is the search and rescue efforts as well as the safety of our employees,” he was reported as saying by MiningNews.net.