Grasberg, in Indonesia’s Central Papua highlands, is a major copper-and-gold mining district operated by PT Freeport Indonesia. It has been described as the world’s largest gold mine under a historical reserve measure, but that record dates to 2012. The official owner sources reviewed do not establish $40 billion as Grasberg’s current value. The distinction matters: a mine’s metal output, its reserves and a valuation of the business are different things.
Where is Grasberg, and what is the operation?
Grasberg sits in the Sudirman Mountain Range on the western half of New Guinea, in Indonesia’s Central Papua province. PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, operates the district. Its deposits contain copper, gold and silver, so describing Grasberg simply as a gold mine leaves out the metal that is central to its production.
Grasberg is not one open pit or one underground mine. The district includes multiple underground operations as well as a project still being developed:
- Grasberg Block Cave: an underground mine and the district’s largest operating mine.
- Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ): an operating underground mine.
- Big Gossan: an operating underground mine.
- Kucing Liar: a long-term development project, not an operating mine in the company’s descriptions.
Freeport-McMoRan materials describe operating rights extending through 2041, subject to an extension. That is a stated term, not a guarantee that operations or output will remain unchanged through that date.
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How much copper and gold does Grasberg produce?
Freeport-McMoRan’s 2025 Form 10-K reports district production for the three years below. These are realized annual figures, not a forecast or a measure of the mine’s total reserves.
| Year | Copper produced | Gold produced | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.7 billion pounds | 2.0 million ounces | Grasberg minerals district production reported in Freeport-McMoRan’s 2025 Form 10-K. |
| 2024 | 1.8 billion pounds | 1.9 million ounces | Grasberg minerals district production reported in Freeport-McMoRan’s 2025 Form 10-K. |
| 2025 | 1.0 billion pounds | 0.9 million ounces | Grasberg minerals district production reported in Freeport-McMoRan’s 2025 Form 10-K; output was affected by the September 2025 mud-rush incident. |
The same 2025 filing gives an approximate normal-rate production level for underground operations of 1.7 billion pounds of copper and 1.3 million ounces of gold per year. That is an operating-rate estimate, not what Grasberg actually produced in 2025. The year’s lower milling rates and output followed a mud rush in September 2025, after which undercutting, drawbell construction and ore extraction at Grasberg Block Cave were temporarily suspended.
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Is Grasberg the world’s largest gold mine?
That depends on the measure and the date. Guinness World Records’ largest-gold-mine entry reports 184.2 tonnes of known and probable gold reserves as of 31 December 2012. It is a historical reserve record, not evidence that Grasberg is currently the largest mine by annual gold production, current reserves or market value.
Reserves and production answer different questions: reserves estimate economically mineable material under stated assumptions, while annual production measures what was extracted during a period. The sources available here do not provide a consistent, current dataset for ranking Grasberg against other mines by annual gold production. It would therefore be misleading to present the 2012 reserve record as a current global ranking.
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What is the $40 billion figure based on?
The official owner sources reviewed do not substantiate $40 billion as a current valuation of Grasberg. Without a date, valuation method and definition of what is being valued, the figure cannot be treated as a verified estimate of the mine’s worth. It may be headline framing, but its original basis is not established by those sources.
A headline value also should not be confused with the gross value of metal in the ground, revenue from annual production or the value of the operating business. Those are separate calculations. A business valuation would need to account for factors such as recoverable output over time, copper as well as gold, operating and development costs, commodity prices, taxes and the terms governing the operation. The reviewed material does not provide the assumptions needed to verify a $40 billion figure on that basis.
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What changed after the 2025 disruption?
Freeport-McMoRan’s 2025 Form 10-K anticipated a phased restart beginning in the second quarter of 2026. In an April 2026 investor presentation filed with the SEC, the company said initial mining in PB 2/3 had commenced in March 2026, while wet drawpoints and rail-loading modifications constrained production and ramp-up. Those dated disclosures describe the planned and early restart period; they do not establish Grasberg’s operational status in October 2026.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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