JAKARTA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Freeport Indonesia said on

Friday that an investigation into a mud flow that killed seven

workers at its Grasberg copper and gold mine has ended and the

company has received improvement recommendations from the

government.

Shortly before the company's statement, deputy mining minister

Yuliot Tanjung had told reporters the ministry was evaluating

the incident, including whether negligence or any regulatory

violations were factors in the disaster, before deciding if

operations could resume.

Seven workers were killed when around 800,000 metric tons of wet

material flooded the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC), one of the mines

at the complex, on September 8.

"PT Freeport Indonesia has received recommendations for

improvement from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources

and is currently following up on all of these recommendations,"

spokesperson Katri Krisnati said in a statement, without

providing details of the recommendations.

In October, parent Freeport-McMoRan ( FCX ) had said an

investigation "involving external experts and Indonesian

authorities" was underway.

It was not immediately clear whether the ministry's

evaluation was separate from the investigation conducted by

Freeport.

The ministry wanted to determine the cause of the deadly

incident, Yuliot said, adding that Freeport would be allowed to

resume operations if it was considered safe to do so.

"If, based on our evaluation, activities are deemed safe to

proceed, we will permit it," he said, adding the review would

distinguish between areas of the Grasberg complex that were

affected by the mud flow and areas that were unaffected.

Freeport-McMoRan ( FCX ) has said Big Gossan mine and Deep Mill

Level Zone mine at Grasberg could potentially be restarted

during the fourth quarter, as they were unaffected by the mud

flow, with a phased restart of GBC expected during 2026.

The GBC represents around 70% of Freeport Indonesia's

previously estimated copper and gold output through 2029.