As you look back on a year just completed, what is your process for evaluating success and identifying opportunities moving forward?
First and foremost, you have to look at the numbers because that’s how the business is run. So, you look at safety performance, then production and costs and all the other numbers you would look at from a business perspective. That’s the first pass. The other piece, in my mind, is tying it back to other efforts. So, in 2023 that would have been Leach to the Last Drop, maintenance and reliability, and the other pillars. Some of those are tied to results, and some are tied to specific activities that ultimately should be driving results. I always like to look at all the factors.

Considering all the factors, what do you consider some of the organization’s highlights for 2023?
On a positive note, even though we didn’t hit our safety target for the year, if I look at the trend, safety performance viewed through TRIR (total recordable incident rate) improved every single quarter. We finished the year with a TRIR of 0.91 for the fourth quarter, which was significantly below the target of 1.25. We did a lot of good work in that space. We still have work to do to meet our overall objective for this year, but we’re headed in the right direction.

The other one that jumps out is the Leach to the Last Drop effort and all the things that were put into place to generate additional copper that we wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise. This helped offset some of the shortfalls in other parts of the business. I think that’s been a true success for the business.

In the maintenance and reliability area, we saw a number of improvements last year. Sierrita has done great work over the past couple years in the mill in the crush and convey area. Bagdad has done a lot of work over the past year setting itself up for success, and so have Chino and Safford. They are positioned well as a result of the focus on maintenance work in 2023.

Obviously, there was a concerted focus on improving the safety performance last year. You’ve also talked about factors not necessarily tied directly to safety that may be having a positive impact in that area. Can you elaborate on that?
In addition to focusing directly on safety, when you start working on the fundamentals – the blocking and tackling – you generally see improved safety performance. Creating an inclusive culture, treating people with respect, valuing diverse ideas and opinions, and getting people involved all lead to more engaged employees who are safer employees.

You noted some of the indicators of improved safety performance across the organization. Can you point to any site-specific safety work that stood out to you?
Chino established a topic of the month specific to FRM (fatal risk management), and it provided some guidance to frontline supervision about what to look for in the field. It was based on data. They identified a bunch of things by focusing on that, and they eliminated some risks. By providing some guidance and some pointed areas to work on based on data, we saw some positive results. That grew from Chino to Tyrone then to Sierrita. That was a creative approach.

Also, in the fourth quarter, Safford, working with the corporate safety team, piloted a program that looked at the FRM forms that typically address what we identify as our fatal risks. But a lot of times, it’s not obvious how those risks are tied to the day-to-day work. So, they looked at how to do a task-based FRM. It’s been received very, very well in the sense that a shovel runner or a truck driver or a shift supervisor sees clear, consistent information. Now, it’s very specific about the fatal risks that are present, so it’s all right there. It’s just another example of us getting better at what we do and giving people the tools to use in their day-to-day work.

Looking ahead to this year, the 2024 priorities appear to be in line with the focus areas of 2023. Was part of the rationale in doing so to build on any momentum already established?
Yes and no. I think that’s the case specifically with Leach to the Last Drop because that was much further along, much further developed. I think our work in the maintenance and reliability space got better because we got a lot more focused toward the second half of the year. That will start to gain more momentum in 2024.

The other piece that’s different this year from last year is that we are really specific about the targets. And that’s us getting better at what we’re doing. This year, we’re really cognizant and purposeful about putting numbers and targets in place, so we can measure ourselves against those targets on a quarterly basis to make sure we hit the targets by the end of the year.

Leach to the Last Drop is one of the internal focus areas that has gained external traction, even becoming a topic of discussion on some of the earnings calls. What is your view of employees’ perceptions of the opportunities this effort represents?
I don’t think it’s as well-known as we would hope. I still think there’s opportunity in that sense. It continues to be really important that we hit our goal, and we’re on a run rate to produce more than 200 million pounds incrementally in 2024. That’s some of the lowest cost copper that we can produce. It’s impactful for us, and there is huge opportunity for us to make more, which is going to require even more creativity and innovation.

Attracting and retaining a talented workforce seems to be a priority that every part of the business can relate to. As the company tries to ensure the workforce is in place to meet the needs of the business, what can employees – even those without direct responsibility for recruiting and hiring – do to help?
I think all of us can be advocates for the company and the industry. There’s still a lot of negative perceptions about the mining industry in general. Some of that is changing to a certain extent with decarbonization and greenification and a recognition that you need copper to do all of that. But there’s still a perception the mining industry is still picks and shovels. Hopefully, we’re starting to get away from that. The more each one of us advocates for our business and why we’re a good company can do nothing but help.

What is your pitch to people considering a career at Freeport-McMoRan?
The new generation wants to do a good job, but they also want to make sure they are working on something that is purposeful and has an impact. So, we’re trying to help people understand the work that we do really enables the development of the world, it enables decarbonization and helps parts of the world that really don’t have the infrastructure the U.S. has. It’s also great to ask how much copper is in your car? How much copper is in your phone? Copper is a big part of that.

You are a frequent visitor to the North America sites. In your travels to those sites, in your conversations with employees and in your own reflection, what is something you learned in 2023 that you plan to apply in 2024?
The reaffirmation that we need to stay very, very focused on a few things and not try to do too much, that we stay focused on the basics of the business. We’ve been talking about that for a while, that we need to put things in place to make sure we don’t allow ourselves to get distracted. I’m as guilty of that as anyone, so I try to step back and ask what I could have done differently this past year and apply it going forward so I’m being purposeful and dogmatic about those four pillars. What are we doing to make progress on those efforts, and if we’re not, asking why not?