By analyst By Frik Els While Phoenix-based Freeport McMoRan remains at loggerheads with the Indonesian government over selling a majority stake in its Grasberg mine in the remote Papua province, Rio Tinto is reported to be seeking an out sooner rather than later. Bloomberg reports Melbourne-based Rio has held talks with a number of Indonesian groups about exiting its interest in the Grasberg mine which this year is on track to produce more than 450,000 tonnes of copper (compared to Rio’s target of around 470,000 tonnes in 2017 across its operations) and a staggering 1.6m ounces of gold.