VOL. 09 |  ISSUE 1  |  Spring 2026

Leading an operation of nearly 20,000 employees across North and South America makes it difficult to connect with everyone directly, even when that’s the goal.

To help create more opportunities for conversation, Cory Stevens, Senior Vice President; President and Chief Operating Officer-Americas, is launching a new feature in The Miner called Ask Cory.

Through this column, he will answer questions from employees, addressing a wide range of topics. Those topics may include the company’s long-term direction, near-term priorities, developments in the copper market, emerging technologies and even his own career journey. If there is something on employees’ minds, he wants to hear about it.

“I believe the most effective form of communication is real dialogue, where there is an active exchange of thoughts and ideas,” Stevens said. “I want to engage in a way that helps me gather more input from our team members and helps position our employees and the entire organization for long-term success.”

Employees can submit questions for future Ask Cory columns to fcx_communications@fcx.com. Please include “Ask Cory” in the subject line.

Now, on to this issue’s questions:

How do you see technology enabling Freeport to operate safer, more reliably and more efficiently as the business continues to evolve?

– BRYSEN REYES | Senior Supervisor, MIS-Morenci

Technology is advancing at a pace that is limited only by our ability to meaningfully integrate it into our daily work. Our opportunity is to apply these tools in ways that create real value by improving safety, reliability and efficiency across our operations.

Autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and sensor technology will play an increasingly important role in how we operate. Through our Reinvent Mining work, we are organizing these efforts in a thoughtful way, so we stay focused on the technologies that solve real operational challenges while prioritizing risk and shortening learning curves.

A good example is our autonomous haul truck work at Bagdad. That effort continues to evolve as we apply the technology to improve both safety and productivity while enabling higher levels of performance.

The lessons we learn at Bagdad will help strengthen our competitive advantage and support future growth throughout the Americas.

What got you interested in the mining industry and how did you get your start?

– ELIAB FIERRO | Warehouse Tech II-Sierrita

My story goes back 40 years. I was 15 years old, growing up in California and started working for a neighbor who was running a small entrepreneurial mining company that reprocessed tailings for gold and silver in various locations in the United States and Canada. In this role, I gained broad experience with how mining and investments were made in the industry. 

I knew I wanted to be an engineer, but I didn’t have a lot of direction on what that really meant until this point. I always found it fascinating that one can create value from nothing and produce highly sought-after products.  I started working in the copper mining industry through internships while I was going to school in New Mexico, which led to my first job at a competitor company, and I later started with our company at the Chino smelter. From there I really just let the job take me wherever the opportunity presented itself. 

I have been fortunate that each experience has been really gratifying and rewarding with lots of fond memories of the people I got a chance to meet and work with along the way.