STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY AND STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	7 Months Ended	12 Months Ended								1 Months Ended							3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		May 31, 2013 Cash Settled Restricted Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Cash Settled Restricted Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	May 31, 2013 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Employee Stock Option [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Employee Stock Option [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Employee Stock Option [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum [Member] Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum [Member] Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	May 31, 2013 Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas [Member] Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	May 31, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Cash Settled Restricted Stock Units [Member]	May 31, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	May 31, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Jun. 03, 2013 McMoRan Exploration Co [Member]	Jun. 03, 2013 McMoRan Exploration Co [Member] Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]	Jun. 03, 2013 McMoRan Exploration Co [Member] Employee Stock Option [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Cash Settled Restricted Stock Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Employment Restructuring Arrangement [Member] Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]
Stockholder's Equity and Stock-based Compensation [Line Items]
Stock Based Compensation Included In General And Administrative Expense	$ 145		$ 77		$ 90																								$ 37
Stock Based Compensation Included In Production and Delivery Expense	28		23		25
Capitalized costs	(13)		0		0
Stock-based compensation	186		100		115
Tax Benefit and Noncontrolling Interests' Share	(66)		(39)		(46)
Impact on net income	107		61		69
Fair Value of Cash Settled Restricted Stock Units Converted At Acquisition Date							70
Stock appreciation rights outstanding and included in stock options	1,927,037		39,336		69,672
Converted (in dollars per option)	$ 27.64
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	3,700		2,324																								16	17
Other Liabilities																												19
Share-based Compensation [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period (in number of options/units)	31,472,559	[1]	27,967,145	[1]	26,930,444				889,698
Stock Options Converted																								7,203,392		7,203,392
Stock Appreciation Rights Converted																							2,374,601
Granted (in number of options/units)	5,479,930		5,050,500		4,230,500			1,430	2,492,600																				1,000,000
Restricted Stock Units Converted																				1,252,185	2,259,708	1,238,685			13,500
Exercised (in number of options/units)	(976,220)		(1,300,273)		(3,044,174)
Vested (in number of options/units)								(1,430)	(356,275)
Expired/Forfeited (in number of options/units)	(423,601)		(244,813)		(149,625)			(39,896)	(22,732)
Balance at end of period (in number of options/units)	45,130,661		31,472,559	[1]	27,967,145	[1]		2,219,812	4,255,476	889,698
Stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock units and additional disclosures [Abstract]
Weighted-average exercise price at beginning of period (in dollars per option)	$ 37.40		$ 34.90		$ 30.22
Restricted Stock Units - weighted average grant date fair value								$ 31.05	$ 35.13	$ 44.35
Granted (in dollars per option)	$ 35.00		$ 46.32		$ 55.43
Granted - Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value								$ 32.94	$ 34.84
Restricted Stock Units converted (average grant date fair value)								$ 31.05	$ 31.05
Stock Appreciation Rights converted - weighted average exercise price	$ 27.34
Exercised (in dollars per option)	$ 18.77		$ 16.68		$ 21.88
Vested - weighted average grant date fair value								$ 31.05	$ 41.96
Expired/Forfeited (in dollars per option)	$ 41.83		$ 45.23		$ 37.61
Forfeited - weighted average grant date fair value								$ 31.05	$ 31.92
Weighted-average exercise price at end of period (in dollars per option)	$ 35.39		$ 37.40		$ 34.90
Weighted-average remaining contractual term (in years)	5 years 7 months							1 year 11 months	4 years 1 month
Vested and exercisable at end of period (in options)	31,748,346
Weighted-average option price of vested and exercisable (in dollars per option)	$ 33.40
Aggregate intrinsic value of outstanding	239							84	161
Weighted-average remaining contractual term of vested and exercisable (in years)	4 years 8 months
Aggregate intrinsic value of vested and exercisable	210
Fair value assumptions and methodology [Abstract]
Weighted-average expected volatility															48.90%	52.00%	50.90%	28.80%	34.80%
Expected life of options (in years)															4 years 7 months 27 days	4 years 6 months 15 days	4 years 4 months 2 days	1 year	4 years
Weighted-average expected dividend rate														3.60%	3.30%	3.10%	1.80%
Risk free interest rate															0.70%	0.70%	1.60%	0.10%	1.10%
Weighted-average grant-date fair value (in dollars per option)												$ 7.94	$ 7.00		$ 10.98	$ 15.60	$ 20.58
Total intrinsic value of options exercised														3	10	34	101
Fair value of options vested															101	77	89
Total grant-date fair value of restricted stock units granted									125													38
Total intrinsic value of restricted stock units vested									12	28	69
Total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period									38				6	6	76
Weighted-average period used in calculating unrecognized compensation cost, stock options (in years)									2 years 1 month					2 years 1 month	1 year 6 months
Shares tendered to pay exercise price and minimum required taxes (in shares)	3,294,624	[2]	515,558	[2]	936,811	[2]
Cash received from exercise of stock options	8		15		48
Actual tax benefit realized for tax deductions	8		16		45
Amount paid for employee taxes	$ 105		$ 16		$ 45

[1] Included 39,336 SARs at December 31, 2012, and 69,672 SARs at December 31, 2011.

[2] Under terms of the related plans, upon exercise of stock options and vesting of RSUs, employees may tender existing FCX shares to FCX to pay the exercise price and/or the minimum required taxes.