New Accounting Standard (Unaudited)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

New Accounting Standards [Abstract]

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]

NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARD

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) that simplifies various aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, statutory tax withholding requirements, an accounting policy election for forfeitures and the classification on the statement of cash flows. FCX adopted this ASU effective January 1, 2017.