Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold is a metals mining industry leader with operations on four continents. From the equatorial mountains of Papua, Indonesia, the southwestern deserts of the United States, to sites in South America and Africa, we are at the forefront of supplying the world’s communities and economies with essential metals.

We strive to maintain a competitive edge through operational excellence and innovation. Our skills include the breakthrough developments of novel methods for exploring, mining, and processing – paving the way for less energy intensive, more environmentally sound, and more cost-effective operations.

Because growth is key to the company’s business strategy, finding new sources of copper and other metals through exploration, acquisition or partnerships is the lifeblood of Freeport-McMoRan. Much of our exploration effort focuses on our own backyard, where we probe the boundaries of our existing ore bodies. Exploration methods have grown more sophisticated and precise, as have mining and processing technologies. Because of these advancements, we are able to identify additional deposits and economically recover metals from low-grade ore at existing sites that historically would have been considered waste. These discoveries and improvements in processing technology continue to extend the expected life of these mines.

Freeport-McMoRan exploration teams aggressively seek new mining opportunities in North and South America, Indonesia, Africa, and other regions. In several cases, we pursue these opportunities with joint-venture partners, thus maximizing our exploration budget and spreading costs and risks among several parties. Our expertise and reputation afford us many partnering opportunities, yet we pursue only those few that can pass our rigorous screens for adding economic value to the company.

In addition, our Process Technology Center and the exploration group collaborate to ensure the continued discovery and development of economically viable mineral reserves and creation of low-cost production and process technologies. Based in the United States, the center is one of the industry’s most advanced facilities for R&D in metals recovery. Among our technological advances is the process known as SX/EW – or, Solution Extraction/Electro-Winning, which blends chemistry and electricity to produce flat copper sheets called electrolytic copper cathodes containing 99.9% pure copper. We also produce copper concentrate through a physical separation process, producing a product we send to smelters and refineries.

Most essential is our core competence in safety. We maintain a global team to share worker safety expertise, advancing our company-wide objective for zero workplace injuries and occupational illnesses. Although our operations are among the safest in the industry, we are committed to continuous improvement in creating a safe and healthy work environment.

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