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Released April 26, 2022 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Freeport-McMoRan Incorporated (NYSE:FCX) (Phoenix, Arizona) struggled to expand its capacity to meet rapidly growing global demand for copper in the first quarter of 2022. Despite stronger prices and improved production, executives acknowledged the company's copper sales could dip in the coming year as its planned capacity growth faces obstacles. For the first quarter of this year, however, company profits more than doubled from a year earlier. Industrial Info is tracking more than $13.5 billion worth of active projects involving Freeport-McMoRan worldwide, more than 80% of which remains in the planning stages.
Copper is a key element in semiconductor chips, battery energy-storage systems (BESS), electric vehicles (EV) and other technologies that are crucial to remaining competitive in the changing global economy. Freeport-McMoRan's averaged realized copper price stood at $4.66 per pound in the first quarter, an 18% increase from first-quarter 2021, while copper production stood at about 1.01 billion recoverable pounds, an 11% increase from the same period last year.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Freeport-McMoRan's active projects, by country.
The company announced it was advancing long-stalled plans to expand its Bagdad Copper Mine in northwest Arizona. The project is designed to double production capacity at the facility to 400 million pounds per year of copper, as well as 22 million pounds per year of molybdenum and 64 million pounds per year of copper cathode. Executives said the company would soon commence with early work for the project, mostly to procure mine equipment and additional stripping, in tandem with site studies. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can learn more in a detailed project report.
"In the medium term, we're highly optimistic that we'll double the size of Bagdad in the 2026 timeframe," said Kathleen Quirk, the president of Freeport-McMoRan, in a quarterly earnings-related conference call. "We expect to complete the feasibility study in the first half of next year and be in a position to commence construction activities."
Quirk also pointed to the company's proposed expansion of its Lone Star copper mine in Safford, Arizona, which would increase copper production from 250 million to 300 million pounds per year. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's detailed project report.
Freeport-McMoRan already is expanding and optimizing its copper mine and concentrator in Morenci, Arizona, where it is increasing production about 10% to 900,000 tons per day. The project began site preparations last summer, and it is expected to wrap up in the second quarter of 2023. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's detailed project report.
But Freeport-McMoRan is facing a notable slowdown in its planned expansion of the Grasberg Mine in Timika, Indonesia. Subsidiary PT-Freeport Indonesia's estimated capital spending on the Grasberg Mine and associated facilities is expected to reach about $1.3 billion in 2022, but the proposed expansion has been pushed back at least two years, to 2025 at the earliest. Subscribers can learn more in Industrial Info's project report.
Most of Freeport-McMoRan's active investments in copper mining are in South America, where it is focusing much of its efforts on the copper-rich nations of Chile and Peru. It is in the process of expanding a heap leach pad at its El Abra Copper Mine in Calama, Chile, to increase capacity from 150 million to 250 million tons per year. The expansion is expected to wrap up this summer. Freeport-McMoRan also is weighing proposed concentrator and desalination additions at the El Abra mine, which would raise fine copper production from 136 million to 300 million tons per year.
The company also is in the process of ramping up production at its Cerro Verde copper mine in Arequipa, Peru, where it also is considering a series of upgrades and improvements, including expanded mining capacity, an expanded flotation plant, an entirely new flotation plant and expanded tailing storage. Sumitomo Metal Mining Company (Tokyo, Japan) owns about 44% of the Cerro Verde mine, but executive say Freeport-McMoRan is looking to boost its own stake in Cerro Verde, which it operates.
"We continue to target a full restoration at Cerro Verde this year and to be on our way back to 1 billion pounds per annum from this large-scale operation," Quirk said in the conference call. "El Abra has been successful in Chile in increasing the stacking rate of material on its leach pad. We expect a 30% increase in 2022 production at El Abra and to sustain a level of 200 million to 250 million pounds per annum for the next several years, as we assess opportunities for future growth."
Freeport-McMoRan has yet to make an investment decision on El Abra concentrator and desalination additions, or the Cerro Verde upgrades. Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson said El Abra "is a great project, but there's a lot of uncertainties about the government policy towards mining in Chile." Chile produces the most copper in the world, amounting to 28% of global production, but its newly elected government is proposing tighter restrictions on the mining sector.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more about the El Abra expansion in a detailed project report, and can read detailed plant profiles for the Cerro Verde and El Abra mines. Subscribers also can see lists of detailed project reports related to the Cerro Verde upgrades and the El Abra concentrator and desalination additions.
For more information on Latin America's crucial role in the global copper industry, see March 28, 2022, article - Latin America to Play Big Role in Supplying Copper for the Energy Transition.
Freeport-McMoRan's net income was reported to be $1.53 billion for first-quarter 2022, an increase of more than 110% from the first quarter of 2021. Revenues stood at $6.6 billion, a 36.1% increase from the same period last year.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
Copper is a key element in semiconductor chips, battery energy-storage systems (BESS), electric vehicles (EV) and other technologies that are crucial to remaining competitive in the changing global economy. Freeport-McMoRan's averaged realized copper price stood at $4.66 per pound in the first quarter, an 18% increase from first-quarter 2021, while copper production stood at about 1.01 billion recoverable pounds, an 11% increase from the same period last year.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Freeport-McMoRan's active projects, by country.The company announced it was advancing long-stalled plans to expand its Bagdad Copper Mine in northwest Arizona. The project is designed to double production capacity at the facility to 400 million pounds per year of copper, as well as 22 million pounds per year of molybdenum and 64 million pounds per year of copper cathode. Executives said the company would soon commence with early work for the project, mostly to procure mine equipment and additional stripping, in tandem with site studies. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can learn more in a detailed project report.
"In the medium term, we're highly optimistic that we'll double the size of Bagdad in the 2026 timeframe," said Kathleen Quirk, the president of Freeport-McMoRan, in a quarterly earnings-related conference call. "We expect to complete the feasibility study in the first half of next year and be in a position to commence construction activities."
Quirk also pointed to the company's proposed expansion of its Lone Star copper mine in Safford, Arizona, which would increase copper production from 250 million to 300 million pounds per year. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's detailed project report.
Freeport-McMoRan already is expanding and optimizing its copper mine and concentrator in Morenci, Arizona, where it is increasing production about 10% to 900,000 tons per day. The project began site preparations last summer, and it is expected to wrap up in the second quarter of 2023. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's detailed project report.
But Freeport-McMoRan is facing a notable slowdown in its planned expansion of the Grasberg Mine in Timika, Indonesia. Subsidiary PT-Freeport Indonesia's estimated capital spending on the Grasberg Mine and associated facilities is expected to reach about $1.3 billion in 2022, but the proposed expansion has been pushed back at least two years, to 2025 at the earliest. Subscribers can learn more in Industrial Info's project report.
Most of Freeport-McMoRan's active investments in copper mining are in South America, where it is focusing much of its efforts on the copper-rich nations of Chile and Peru. It is in the process of expanding a heap leach pad at its El Abra Copper Mine in Calama, Chile, to increase capacity from 150 million to 250 million tons per year. The expansion is expected to wrap up this summer. Freeport-McMoRan also is weighing proposed concentrator and desalination additions at the El Abra mine, which would raise fine copper production from 136 million to 300 million tons per year.
The company also is in the process of ramping up production at its Cerro Verde copper mine in Arequipa, Peru, where it also is considering a series of upgrades and improvements, including expanded mining capacity, an expanded flotation plant, an entirely new flotation plant and expanded tailing storage. Sumitomo Metal Mining Company (Tokyo, Japan) owns about 44% of the Cerro Verde mine, but executive say Freeport-McMoRan is looking to boost its own stake in Cerro Verde, which it operates.
"We continue to target a full restoration at Cerro Verde this year and to be on our way back to 1 billion pounds per annum from this large-scale operation," Quirk said in the conference call. "El Abra has been successful in Chile in increasing the stacking rate of material on its leach pad. We expect a 30% increase in 2022 production at El Abra and to sustain a level of 200 million to 250 million pounds per annum for the next several years, as we assess opportunities for future growth."
Freeport-McMoRan has yet to make an investment decision on El Abra concentrator and desalination additions, or the Cerro Verde upgrades. Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson said El Abra "is a great project, but there's a lot of uncertainties about the government policy towards mining in Chile." Chile produces the most copper in the world, amounting to 28% of global production, but its newly elected government is proposing tighter restrictions on the mining sector.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more about the El Abra expansion in a detailed project report, and can read detailed plant profiles for the Cerro Verde and El Abra mines. Subscribers also can see lists of detailed project reports related to the Cerro Verde upgrades and the El Abra concentrator and desalination additions.
For more information on Latin America's crucial role in the global copper industry, see March 28, 2022, article - Latin America to Play Big Role in Supplying Copper for the Energy Transition.
Freeport-McMoRan's net income was reported to be $1.53 billion for first-quarter 2022, an increase of more than 110% from the first quarter of 2021. Revenues stood at $6.6 billion, a 36.1% increase from the same period last year.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
