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JAKARTA - A SMALL bomb exploded near the airport for Timika, in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua, on Sunday night, but there were no casualties and the bomb did not disrupt a huge copper mine in the area, Indonesian police said.
The police told Reuters the bomb was similar in type to two that exploded on Friday near a massive mine operated by the Indonesian unit of the US mining firm Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc in Papua.
'The explosion was around an electricity depot, about 700 metres from Timika's airport. There are electricity depots owned by Freeport around Timika,' said Mr Bagus Eko Danto, Papua's police chief. He said the explosion had not affected Freeport's operations.
The explosion took place at 10.30pm local time (9.30pm Singapore time). Freeport's mining site is about 70km from Timika.
Police from Indonesia's forensic and anti-terror unit were at the site of the blast. A Reuters witness said the blast could be heard in Timika.
No casualties were reported from Friday's blasts, which police are also investigating.
The Grasberg mine, believed to be the world's third-largest copper reserve, accounts for 40 per cent of Freeport's total copper reserves of 93 billion pounds, according to the company's website.
Freeport is the world's largest publicly traded copper miner. -- REUTERS
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