Freeport-McMoRan

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN US35671D8570
founding 1912
Seat Phoenix , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
management Richard C. Adkerson ( President and CEO )
Gerald J. Ford (Chairman)
Number of employees 30,000
sales $ 14.8 billion
Branch Mining
Website www.fcx.com
As of December 31, 2016

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is a US company in the mining industry. The company is located in Phoenix . Freeport shares have been traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1988 and are listed in the S&P 500 stock index.

Companies

Freeport-McMoRan in Indonesia

The mining company Freeport Sulfur was in 1967, after the fall of Sukarno by Suharto , the first foreign company that a permit from the Indonesian got government. Later the Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia with Grasberg in western New Guinea operated the largest gold mine and the most cost-effective copper mine in the world. Right from the start, Freeport was politically and economically important for the Suharto regime. In the USA the company acted as a lobby group for the government in Jakarta. Freeport became Indonesia's largest taxpayer, by far the largest investor, one of the largest employers and one of the largest social commitments - Suharto described it as essential for the Indonesian economy. On the other hand, the company is also the most controversial foreign investor in terms of its mining methods.

Mutually supportive relationships developed between Freeport and the Indonesian government, the military and the national political elite. In return, Freeport was politically and militarily protected by the regime. The financial support put Freeport in danger of violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act . Due to the key economic role in Jakarta and West Papua, the question of West Papua's independence from Indonesia is inextricably linked to Freeport's future.

Because of its influence and corporate policy, Freeport is under observation by many human rights and environmental groups. Due to serious and irreversible pollution, the breaking of international laws and a lack of transparency, the Norwegian state pension fund considers Freeport shares to be ethically unjustifiable.

Holdings

Freeport-McMoRan has a 90.64 percent stake in the Indonesian subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia , the country's largest private taxpayer, with the Jakarta government holding the rest . The Indonesian exploration company PT Irja Eastern Minerals and the Spanish Atlantic Copper SA are also among their subsidiaries.

In 1995, Freeport agreed with the mining company Rio Tinto for an initial payment of 1.7 billion US dollars a 40% stake in the Grasberg production, which is over 118,000 tons per day (approximately half the production volume in 2006). Rio-Tinto will also receive a 40% stake in any future discoveries in the West Papua concession area. This contract is the world's largest mining deal.

history

The company was founded in 1912 in Freeport , Texas . In 1960 an exploration took place in the Indonesian jungle. The Amungme Moses Kilangin leads the expedition from the coast through the rain forest to the Ertsberg. At times, all accessible male amungme are hired as porters. In the lowlands, the Kamoro transport the expedition's equipment, which weighs several tons, in 21 dugout canoes. In remembrance of the great importance of the Amungme for the development of the mine, the Timika airport is now called Moses Kilangin.

The company's wealth is mainly based on the signing of a license agreement with the then ruler Suharto in 1967 . The company acquired the right to prospect for 30 km² for mineral resources and received an exclusive 30-year contract from the official opening of the mine in 1981. Despite popular protests and the destruction of a pipeline, the Indonesian government expanded the concession area after the Grasberg mine was discovered 1991 on 25,000 km². The contract was extended for a further 50 years. As in 1967, neither environmental protection requirements nor indigenous compensation are included in the contract. The company generates around 50% of the gross domestic product in Western New Guinea.

On August 31, 2002, a member of the Papuan ethnic group, Anthonius Wamang, stormed an armed event organized by teachers who work for Freeport-McMoRan, killing two Americans, an Indonesian and injuring another 11 people. The event gave shareholders of the company, which is listed on the American stock exchange, an opportunity to request more information about its links with the Indonesian military . There were suspicions that members of the special unit KOPASSUS wanted to express their demands for more money. Other speculations suggest that it was an ordered attack by the OPM independence movement .

After April 2003 paid Freeport-McMoRan "officially" no individuals from the military or police to possible charges against the American " US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act " to escape.

In November 2006, the company announced that it would acquire rival Phelps Dodge Corporation (copper and molybdenum) for $ 26 billion. The takeover became legally effective in March 2007.

criticism

The company attracted attention in 2003 in connection with human rights abuses at the Grasberg Mine , the largest gold mine in the world in western New Guinea . Through the years of payment of several million dollars protection money to individual officers of the military and police, which co-responsibility in the expulsion and killing of many thousands of member of Papua have, it took the deteriorating situation of the indigenous people in the climate of troubled province of Papua into account .

Freeport is equally known for its environmental degradation . There are no environmental requirements in the mining contracts for Grasberg and relying on the good relationships with the Indonesian government, the company ignores Indonesian environmental protection laws. 238,000 tons of toxic overburden are transported daily via the Aghawagon and Otomona rivers into the Ajkwa River and dumped into lakes right next to the Lorentz National Park . As early as 1990, a significantly increased copper concentration was measured in the Arafura Sea . According to Freeport, the water in the rivers is potable and the company complies with all regulations. Journalists and independent observers are not allowed into the mine. Environmental studies that have been carried out are not published and independent measurements are not permitted.

See also: 9th place for Freeport in the Toxic 100 Index 2018

Significant former supervisory board members

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d 2016 Form 10-K , accessed on March 18, 2016
  2. ↑ Le Monde diplomatique: The Papuans under Indonesian rule