'Dirty copper': Grasberg Mine, West Papua

‘Dirty copper’: Grasberg Mine, West Papua

GLAN and London Mining Network take action over ‘dirty copper’ traded on the London Metal Exchange

Case summary

GLAN and London Mining Network have filed a legal complaint with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) against the London Metal Exchange (LME). The complaint challenges the LME’s role in trading copper from the Grasberg Mine in West Papua, which is linked to serious environmental harms and human rights violations. Under UK law, metals produced through environmental crimes may be classified as “criminal property.” This means the LME could be facilitating money laundering by allowing these metals to circulate in global markets. The case calls for the LME to stop trading copper linked to abuses and to fulfill its legal duty to report suspected criminal activity.

Case background

Freeport’s Grasberg Mine is one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines. The environmental and human harms caused by the mine in West Papua are jaw-dropping. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of mining waste (called tailings) are dumped into the local Ajkwa river systems every single day. This devastates the ancestral lands and way of life of Indigenous communities’, such as the Amungme and Kamoro peoples. Vital water sources are polluted with heavy metals and dangerous mining waste, causing huge health impacts for communities that rely on them, as well as devastating the delicate aquatic ecosystem and livelihoods. In addition to the environmental and health impacts, activity at the Grasberg Mine has resulted in violence against local communities, the forcible displacement of indigenous peoples from their homes, and the curtailing basic rights and freedoms across West Papua. Such environmental damage would be illegal in countries like the UK, yet copper from Grasberg continues to be traded on the LME. The complaint also highlights a broader issue: similar abuses are linked to mining operations in Brazil, Peru, Guinea, and Russia. As the world transitions to green energy, GLAN argues that supply chains must be clean, ethical, and just—not built on exploitation and environmental crime.

West Papuan activists replant vital mangroves destroyed by the Grasberg mine

Fishing boats struggle to navigate the river system due to sediment from the mine

Case Timeline

October - December 2023

GLAN engages with the LME to enquire whether the Exchange has any mechanism in place to ensure that metals traded on it are not produced through severe environmental harm.

16 January 2024

GLAN sends a notice to the LME's senior management alerting them of the risk of proceeds of environmental crime being traded on the Exchange (GLAN Notice), in particular as respects to copper produced at the Grasberg mine in West Papua and asking the LME to address this risk. GLAN's notice is also shared with the FCA - the LME's regulator - to alert them of the issue.

6 February 2024

GLAN and the LMN file a claim for judicial review against the LME's policy where it admits metals for trade on the Exchange. The claim argues that this policy failed to account for the risk of money laundering of proceeds of environmental crime.

11 April 2024

GLAN and the LMN are refused permission to apply for judicial review on the ground that there existed an alternative remedy in the form of a complaint to the FCA. GLAN and LMN decided not to renew their application for permission to apply for judicial review, but instead, follow the High Court's advice.

3 February 2025

GLAN and the LMN submit a formal complaint to the FCA about the trading of Grasberg copper based products on the LME and flag the risk of criminal property laundering.

11 June 2025

FCA answers GLAN and the LMN's complaint, after multiple follow ups, and concludes that the LME was compliant with its statutory duty to have appropriate measures in place to ensure that its Exchange is not used for a purpose connected with financial crime, including the laundering of proceeds of environmental crime.