VOL. 07  |  ISSUE 2  |  June 2024

The Scoop

Freeport-McMoRan has long been a leading responsible copper producer, currently supplying 9 percent of the world’s copper that is so critical for meeting future demand.

This lofty place within our industry is a result of the ongoing commitment and innovative spirit our teams – past and present – have brought to their respective jobs every day.

About 50 years ago, a group of enterprising employees noticed our smelters were producing too much sulfuric acid. There was no market for sulfuric acid at that time. In fact, the company had to pay to get it removed from our sites. At the same time, it was not economically viable to process the stockpiles of excess material through our concentrators, thus leaving vast amounts of copper seemingly unrecoverable.

Proving that sometimes challenges simply are opportunities in disguise, our engineers theorized placing sulfuric acid on the oxide materials on an industrial scale – as opposed to the small, pilot-type scale practiced elsewhere – would result in a chemical reaction that would release copper the electrowinning process ultimately could turn into cathode.

A common practice now was an experiment at the time. However, science tends to have a pretty good track record. This “experiment” resulted in the company recovering copper previously thought unavailable, thus hydrometallurgy was born at Freeport and in the industry.

Half a century later, we continue to build off the work of our predecessors through our Leach to the Last Drop effort. Except now, it is exponentially bigger, as we have incorporated ever-evolving methods to maximize the copper we get from our stockpiles.

The work has been so successful – and shows so much potential moving forward – that our short-term forecast of producing 200 million pounds annually from Leach to the Last Drop is the equivalent of us adding another Bagdad operation each year, except without the financial investment and associated siting challenges. The outlook gets only bigger as we get better.

Just like those before us 50 years ago, we’re being asked to stretch out of our comfort zones, challenge conventional ways of thinking and be open to taking on new and emerging work.

At any time, you may be asked to look beyond your job to do something to help maximize the enormous opportunity we have in front of us. It’s important to the leadership team you know why and to also express our sincere appreciation for the efforts that have helped put Freeport in such an enviable position.

Who knows? Perhaps our next generation of employees will remember those working here now just as we do those who came before us.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to the success of Leach to the Last Drop, and please stay safe.

Justin Cross
Vice President-Operational Improvement
FM Mining Services