VOL. 09 | ISSUE 3 | Fall 2026
Ask Cory
New Employees Bring
New Perspectives, Ideas
Freeport – and the entire mining industry – is constantly evolving. From autonomous haul trucks delivering material in Bagdad to the Integrated Remote Operations Center helping streamline work from Phoenix, the company is continuously transforming the way it operates.
The same can be said of Freeport’s workforce. Since 2019, about half of the company’s U.S. employees are new to the company, presenting opportunities not unlike the latest technologies being rolled out.
“The influx of 50 percent of our people means we’ve got 50 percent new perspectives and ideas that can help make our business that much better and launch us into the future,” said Cory Stevens, Senior Vice President; President and Chief Operating Officer-Americas.
Perhaps that even means 50 percent more curiosity. In this Ask Cory feature, Stevens answers questions about his background, gaining alignment between corporate and site priorities, and the skills that will be critical for Freeport’s future workforce.
Employees can submit questions for future Ask Cory columns to fcx_communications@fmi.com. Please include “Ask Cory” in the subject line.
Now, on to this issue’s questions:
As a leader, one of the values I hold most important is truly knowing my people. While I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting you in person and have only heard third hand about your tenacious work ethic, I’m curious: Who is Cory Stevens?
– Chad Cooper | Manager, Remediation Projects-Miami
Chad, I appreciate the question. I consider myself someone like many others in the organization, dedicated to our shared purpose. I am a father, husband and professional who wants to make a difference in our business and help secure its future for the next generation.
This will come from the combined efforts of everyone’s contributions and a willingness to innovate and apply new technologies to improve safety, efficiency and sustainability. These efforts will allow our business and our stakeholders to thrive as we produce products fueling today’s technology revolution.
Drawing on your experience at both the site and corporate levels, where do you see the biggest disconnect between corporate operational strategy and site level execution? And what should site leaders prioritize to close that gap?
– Shyra Valdez | Manager-Health and Safety
Shyra, our business is increasingly complex. The decisions we have to make every day will increasingly be done with new advents in technology, but more importantly, those decisions need to be shared more broadly throughout the organization. Communication, alignment and trust between all the various departments and organizational skillsets will be needed for us to truly achieve what we want in securing our future and to thrive.
Our challenge is to pair our North Star intentions with the day-to-day execution and the thousands of decisions made across our operations each day so that we continue to improve and realize our potential. That will require new ideas, fearless determination and trust as we push forward. Our strength likes in the collective expertise and skills of the entire organization. Site leaders are on the front lines of daily execution and employee engagement daily, while our corporate groups work to ensure they have everything they need to succeed. We must collaborate to create a common understanding of what that looks like.
Employees can submit questions for future Ask Cory columns to: fcx_communications@fmi.com. Please include “Ask Cory” in the subject line.
As we continue to prioritize innovation, what skills do you see becoming most important to our workforce? And how can we make sure we’re bringing in the right talent?
– Alisa Wren | Senior Manager-Talent Acquisition
The collective diversity of our employees is our greatest strength. We have so much to learn from each other, and we need to find ways to authentically engage.
I truly believe that traits like curiosity, respect, ambition and willingness to deeply understand our business are key to making improvements small and large that will make the difference.