The owner of the Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua in Indonesia has rejected employee demands for a 25 percent wage increase.
The Jakarta Post reports a Freeport McMoran spokesperson, Ramdani Sirait, saying the company's offering 22 percent.
The company's thousands of workers embarked on a month-long strike more than two weeks ago in a bid to secure substantial increases, claiming workers at other Freeport MoMoran plants earned much more.
Some are reported to have returned to work.
The paper quotes Mr Sirait saying Freeport must be strict with its 22 percent deal because it involves about 9,000 employees.
