Rescue efforts at Freeport's Grasberg mine continue after mud flow a week ago

By Bernadette Christina

JAKARTA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Efforts to rescue seven workers at Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg copper and gold mine are continuing one week after a heavy mud flow trapped them underground, a mining ministry official said on Monday.

Operations at the main Grasberg Block Cave remain suspended following the incident, but smaller sites at the complex are up, keeping the mine's output at 30% of capacity, said Tri Winarno, a senior official at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

The incident at one of the world's biggest copper mines occurred last Monday in one of five production blocks in the Grasberg Block Cave. Tri said a team from the ministry is onsite to monitor the situation.

"The rescue efforts are quite complicated because of the underground location," he said. "The initial estimation was for the rescue to not take this long."

Tri said rescuers are working to clear out material to open up access for oxygen supply for the trapped workers - a Chilean, a South African, and five Indonesians.

The last contact with the workers was two days ago, said Johannes Rettob, district head of Mimika, where the mine is.

"But we are optimistic that they are in safe condition because underground there are many evacuation sites prepared," Rettob told Reuters by phone, adding that there are provisions prepared for emergency situation, too.

Freeport Indonesia did not respond on Monday to Reuters' requests for an update on the workers and the situation at the mine.

On Friday, Freeport-McMoRan said extensive efforts were ongoing to clear access routes to where the seven people were working at the time of the incident.