Freeport-McMoRan
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221767413
2008-06-26T00:32:24Z
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{{Cleanup|date=October 2007}}
{{Unreferenced|date=October 2007}}
{{Infobox Company
| name = Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
| company_logo = [[Image:Freeport_McMoRan.svg|200px]]
| type = Public ({{nyse|FCX}})
| foundation = [[1988]]
| location_city = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]]
| location_country = [[United States]]
| locations = <!--# of locations-->
| key_people =
| area_served =
| industry = [[Mining]]
| products = [[Copper]], [[gold]], [[molybdenum]]
| services =
| revenue = [[United States dollar|$]]16,939 million (2007)
| operating_income = $6,555 million (2007)
| net_income = $2,769 million (2007)
| num_employees =
| divisions =
| subsid =
| slogan =
| homepage = [http://www.fcx.com fcx.com]
| footnotes =
| intl = yes
}}
'''Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.''', ({{nyse|FCX}}) often called simply '''Freeport''', is the world's lowest-cost [CITATION REQUIRED] [[copper]] producer and one of the world's largest producers of [[gold]]. It was formerly based in [[New Orleans, Louisiana]] but recently moved its headquarters to [[Phoenix, Arizona]], after acquiring copper producer [[Phelps Dodge|Phelps Dodge Corp.]] in 2007. In addition to Phelps Dodge, its subsidiaries include PT Freeport Indonesia, PT Irja Eastern Minerals and Atlantic Copper, S.A. Freeport is the largest publicly traded copper producer in the world.
Best known for its [[Grasberg mine]] in [[Papua (Indonesian province)|Papua]] province, [[Indonesia]], the company is the largest taxpayer to the Indonesian government; it mines and mills ore containing copper, gold, and [[silver]] for the world market.
==History==
The company was founded by Langbourne Williams Snr. as ''Freeport Texas'' in [[1912]] in the sulphur mining industry, in [[1929]] Langbourne Williams Jnr. collaborated with [[Payne Whitney]] to regain control of the company. In [[1935]] the Board of Directors included chairman [[John Hay Whitney]], [[Kidder, Peabody & Co.]], [[Eugene L. Norton]], Langbourne M. Williams Jr. (president), Monro B. Lanier, [[Chauncey Stillman]], [[Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller]], David M. Goodrich. The company change name to ''Freeport Sulphur'' in December [[1936]]. Other directors have included [[Augustus Long]], [[Robert A. Lovett|Robert Lovett]], Charles Wight from [[1947]], [[Benno C. Schmidt, Sr.|Benno Schmidt]] [[1954]]-[[1997]], [[Jean Mauzé]], Robert W. Bruce III, Robert C. Hills, Paul W. Douglas [[1981]]-[[1983]] after serving on Freeport Minerals [[1975]]-[[1981]], Henry A. Kissinger [[1988]]-[[1995]], George Putnam, and J. Taylor Wharton.
The company committed itself to [[Grasberg_mine|Ertsberg]] copper and gold project in [[West New Guinea]] during [[1961]], the company's wealth now stemming from a mining license agreement signed with [[General Suharto]]. The original [[1967]] license included mining rights for 30 km² and a 30 year exclusive mining license for the region from the official opening of the mine in 1981, although the mine actually began operations in 1972. Freeport now operates under a 1991 contract for a period of 30 years, with provisions for two 10-year extensions to 2041. <!-- According to Freeport's rep, this incident did not occur: "Locals have made several violent attempts to dissuade the mine owners, including blowing up a pipeline in July, but order was quickly restored." --> In 1989 the mining license was extended to include 100 km² (25000 acres}. Freeport also holds exploration rights in three areas that total 2.2 million acres. However, this is only the right to explore for, not develop, minerals; if further deposits are found, Freeport would have to apply for government permission to exploit them.
In 1997 the company exposed the [[Bre-X]] Gold Scandal. Brought in by the Indonesian government, Freeport was not able to correlate Bre-X's fraudulent claims to finding the largest gold mine ever discovered; Bre-X subsequently went bankrupt.
{{Unbalanced}}
In 2003, only after being forced to release documentation by the Security Exchange, the company admitted it had been paying the local Indonesian military and police to keep the native landowners away from the lands it develops under the current Indonesian government contract; Freeport argues that this is necessary to provide security to its employees, both local and foreign.
In 2005, [[the New York Times]] reported that company records showed the total amount paid between 1998 and 2004 amounted to nearly 20 million USD, distributed among both officers and units, with one individual receiving up to 150,000 USD. The company response was that there was "no alternative to our reliance on the Indonesian military and police in this regard", and that the support provided was not for individuals, but rather for infrastructure, food, housing, fuel, travel, vehicle repairs and allowances to cover incidental and administrative costs.
In contending that the money went to the government and not to individual officers, "the statements amount to a knowingly misleading representation by Freeport," the comptroller of the New York City Pension Funds said. While in Indonesia, Juwono Sudarsono, the civilian defense minister, said that it is illegal under Indonesian law for foreign companies to pay soldiers.
The New York City comptroller has charged that Freeport-McMoRan knowingly made "false or misleading" statements about payments to the Indonesian military and might have filed false proxy statements in violation of the Securities Exchange Act. He has also stated that he believed the company might have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids U.S. companies to bribe foreign officials. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department are currently investigating these claims.
Freeport-McMoRan's close ties with the authoritarian Indonesian militia along with the military's heavy-handed tactics in dealing with natives has attracted the attention of many human rights advocates and organizations. However, by the late 1990s, after over twenty five years operating in Papua without recognising the land rights of the traditional peoples it finally announced recognition and established agreements with various Papuan tribes.
Denise Leith has written a comprehensive history of Freeport's influence, impact, and role in Indonesia entitled "The Politics of Power: Freeport in Suharto's Indonesia" (2003: University of Hawai'i Press), detailing Freeport's relationship with the corrupt Suharto regime, the military and the traditional peoples.
==Operations<ref>[http://www.fcx.com/ Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. - corporate web site]</ref>==
North American sites:
*[[Morenci, Arizona]] 85% (copper)
*[[Bagdad, Arizona]] 100% (copper, molybdenum)
*[[Sahuarita, Arizona]] 100% (copper, molybdenum)
*[[Miami, Arizona]] 100% (copper)
*[[Safford, Arizona]] 100% (copper)
*[[El Chino mine|El Chino, New Mexico]] 100% (copper, molybdenum)
*[[Tyrone, New Mexico]] 100% (copper)
*[[Henderson Mine, Empire, Colorado]] 100% (molybdenum)
South American sites:
*Candelaria/Ojos del Salado, [[Chile]] 80% (copper)
*El Abra, Chile 51% (copper)
*Cerro Verde, [[Peru]] 53.6% (copper, molybdenum)
African sites:
*[[Tenke Fungurume]], [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] (copper, cobalt)
Asian sites:
*[[Grasberg mine|Grasberg]], [[Papua (Indonesian province)|Papua province]], [[Indonesia]] (copper, gold, silver)
==External links==
*[http://www.fcx.com/ Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. - corporate web site]
*[http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/collections/hidden/freeport-cuba.htm Freeport Sulphur]
*[http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/collections/hidden/freeport-indonesia.htm JFK, Indonesia, CIA & Freeport Sulphur]
*[http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Company/company.htm#F collection of articles about Freeport-McMoRan minning]
*[http://members.optushome.com.au/daeron/freeport.html Copy of private webpage Louisiana's Delta Greens good coverage of issues]
*[http://www.mpi.org.au/ Moving Mountains: Chapter 4 "REPRESSIVE MINING IN WEST PAPUA "]
*[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16650 Earth Observatory Satellite Picture of Grasberg Mine"]
*[http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=986 CorpWatch - Freeport McMoRan's Corporate Profile]
*[http://www.notmuch.com/Features/Interview/1999/03.20.html - Chapter on Freeport mine with interviews with Freeport employees and eyewitness accounts of native suffering]
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/27/international/asia/27gold.html NY Times report, December 27, 2005]
*[http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030906D.shtml t r u t h o u t | Perspective By John Pilger]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Mining companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Gold mining companies]]
[[Category:Companies based in Phoenix, Arizona]]
[[Category:Mining companies]]
[[Category:Copper mining companies]]
[[Category:Western New Guinea]]
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