Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) executives said the company finished 2025 with results slightly better than its adjusted guidance and highlighted progress restoring operations at Indonesia’s Grasberg complex following a September mudflow event. Management also emphasized near-term growth initiatives in the U.S. business—particularly a low-capital “leach” program—as copper prices strengthened late in the year.
2025 performance and copper market backdrop
Chairman Richard Adkerson said Freeport was “pleased to report positive results” for the fourth quarter and called 2025 “a truly eventful year,” noting strong copper prices despite uncertainty tied to global trade, tariffs, and geopolitical conflicts. President and CEO Kathleen Quirk said the company ended 2025 with copper sales and net unit cash costs “slightly better than our adjusted guidance.”
On the market, Quirk said LME copper prices traded in a range from $3.87 to $5.68 per pound in 2025, averaging $4.51 per pound. She noted prices had risen significantly in recent months, with current LME prices about 30% higher than the 2025 average. Management pointed to electrification and AI data centers as demand drivers, with U.S. customers citing data centers as “the most significant source of growth for power cable and building wire.”
Freeport also referenced an S&P Global study on copper in the age of artificial intelligence, which management said projects a doubling of copper demand through 2040 and a 2.9% long-term annual growth rate in demand.
Fourth-quarter results and regional operations
Quirk said fourth-quarter operating performance was favorable to Freeport’s estimates, with production in line and sales better than expected largely due to shipment timing in Indonesia. She said the company completed investigations into the Grasberg incident and restarted the Deep MLZ and Big Gossan mines during the fourth quarter.
In the U.S., Quirk said fourth-quarter performance benefited from stronger copper prices, with operating income “three and a half times” the level of the fourth quarter of 2024, underscoring price leverage at those operations. She added U.S. copper production increased 5% versus both the prior-year quarter and the full year 2025 versus 2024, which she described as notable after declines in the prior two years. Freeport is targeting an 8% increase in U.S. volumes in 2026, partly tied to its leach recovery initiatives.
Quirk said the company converted its haul truck fleet at the Bagdad mine to autonomous operation in 2025 and is continuing to refine the process, expressing optimism that the technology can be applied more broadly.
In South America, management said performance was in line with expectations and Cerro Verde “finished strong.” Quirk said Freeport expects South America copper sales in 2026 to be similar to 2025 levels. On costs, CFO Mareé Robertson and management said South America’s higher unit net cash costs versus 2025 were driven mainly by labor and power costs, as well as a weaker dollar, with 2026 net cash costs expected to align with the fourth-quarter run rate.
In Chile, Quirk discussed activity at El Abra, including a leach pad extension, planned 2026 testing of heated stockpile injections to enhance recoveries, and preparation of an environmental impact statement for a major expansion that the company expects to submit in the first half of the year. She said Freeport added more than 17 billion pounds of copper reserves tied to the El Abra expansion, converting what had previously been considered a mineral resource.
Grasberg recovery plan and timing
Management detailed a phased restart for the Grasberg block cave. Quirk said Freeport remains on track for a second-quarter 2026 startup, initially ramping up production blocks two and three, followed by production block 1S in mid-2027 and production block 1C at the end of 2027.
Quirk said that with a successful ramp-up of blocks two and three beginning in the second quarter, Freeport expects to have 85% of district production restored in the second half of 2026. She said required mud removal is substantially complete, barriers to isolate production block 1C are expected to be completed in the first quarter, and infrastructure repairs should move to completion by quarter end, positioning the restart to commence in the second quarter.
Asked for additional detail on timing, Quirk said the company expects startup “in the first half of the second quarter.” Mark Johnson, speaking for the Indonesia operations, said the team has executed the November plan, addressed localized drainage issues, and sees no supply chain problems for key communications systems that support remote mining. He added he did not see “any real hurdles at this point” to starting up as planned, with any variation expected to be “relatively minor.”
Management also said the investigation prompted changes to risk management and mitigation, including more dynamic cave management plans and new approaches to mud drainage and imaging technology for monitoring cave shape.
Growth projects, leach upside, and capital allocation
Quirk outlined three 2026 focus areas: execution, “crystallizing value” from the leach opportunity, and adopting innovation and automation to improve reliability and efficiency. She called the leach initiative a meaningful value driver and said Freeport is targeting a 40% increase in 2026 from the initiative on a path toward $800 million per year.
Robertson said the company’s 2026 unit net cash costs are expected to average $1.75 per pound, assuming gold at $4,000 per ounce and molybdenum at $20 per pound. She added first-half 2026 costs are expected to run above the annual average, with second-half costs approximating $1.25 per pound as volumes improve with the Grasberg ramp-up.
On the leach program, management told analysts the company’s published 2027-2028 outlook includes $250-$300 million from the initiative in 2026, but does not include expansion beyond that, leaving upside potential. Quirk said Freeport generated over $200 million from the leach initiative in 2025 and is targeting $300 million in 2026, with scaling dependent on field deployment of additives and tests of injecting heated solutions into stockpiles. She described 2026 as a “pivotal year” for determining how additives and heat combine to improve recoveries.
Freeport also highlighted an expansion opportunity at Bagdad that is advancing toward an investment decision. Quirk said the company plans to advance engineering in the first half of the year and seek fixed pricing from vendors, with an investment decision targeted for the second half of the year. She said prior project work pointed to economics that require roughly a $4 per pound average copper price to justify the investment and added the company is not relying on potential tariffs to support the investment. Management discussed factors including confidence in execution, workforce considerations, and optimizing the performance of the newly autonomous fleet.
Robertson said 2025 capital expenditures totaled $3.9 billion, about $500 million below the company’s plan entering 2025. For 2026 and 2027, Freeport expects capital spending of about $4.3 billion to $4.5 billion each year, including an additional $150 million in 2026 to advance engineering and early works at Bagdad. She said discretionary projects are expected to total $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion per year in 2026 and 2027, with roughly half related to Kucing Liar development and an LNG project at Grasberg.
On shareholder returns, Robertson said Freeport has distributed $5.7 billion through dividends and share purchases and reiterated the company’s priorities of maintaining a strong balance sheet, returning cash to shareholders, and investing in value-enhancing growth. She said Freeport has investment-grade ratings, no significant debt maturities in 2026, and flexibility to address 2027 maturities.
About Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)
Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.
Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.
