Contingencies and Commitments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Contingencies and Commitments

CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

Environmental

Refer to Note 12 of FCX’s 2023 Form 10-K for further discussion of FCX’s environmental obligations.

FCX recorded adjustments to environmental obligations totaling $56 million in first-quarter 2024, primarily for preliminary adjustments associated with an interim action workplan for a former processing facility in Steubenville, Ohio, and for groundwater remediation in Blackwell, Oklahoma associated with a historical smelter site.

Asset Retirement Obligations

Refer to Note 12 of FCX’s 2023 Form 10-K for further discussion of FCX’s asset retirement obligations (AROs).

Mining Operations. In first-quarter 2024, we recorded ARO additions at mining operations totaling $256 million, primarily associated with revised closure plans and cost estimates to reflect FCX’s commitment to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (Tailings Standard). FCX may record additional ARO adjustments as it continues to update estimates to conform with the Tailings Standard.

Oil and Gas Properties. In first-quarter 2024, Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas (FM O&G) recorded charges to production and delivery costs totaling $109 million for assumed oil and gas abandonment obligations resulting from bankruptcies of other companies. FM O&G, as a predecessor-in-interest in oil and natural gas leases, is in the chain of title with unrelated third parties either directly or by virtue of divestiture of certain oil and natural gas assets previously owned and assigned by its subsidiaries. Certain counterparties in these divestiture transactions or third parties in existing leases have filed for bankruptcy protection or undergone associated reorganizations and have not performed the required abandonment obligations. Accordingly, regulations or federal laws require that FM O&G assume such obligations.

Litigation

There were no significant updates to previously reported legal proceedings included in Note 12 of FCX’s 2023 Form 10-K, other than the matter discussed below.

Louisiana Parishes Coastal Erosion Cases. Certain FCX affiliates were named as defendants, along with numerous co-defendants, in 13 cases out of a total of 42 cases filed in Louisiana state courts by 6 south Louisiana parishes (Cameron, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. John the Baptist and Vermilion), alleging that certain oil and gas exploration and production operations and sulfur mining and production operations in coastal Louisiana contaminated and damaged coastal wetlands and caused significant land loss along the Louisiana coast. The settlement agreement to resolve these cases was fully executed in fourth-quarter 2022 but there was a delay in finalizing it as a result of a lawsuit challenging the settlement brought in first-quarter 2023 by a non-plaintiff coastal parish included in the settlement (Terrebonne Parish) titled Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government v. Louisiana Department of Natural Resources et al., Docket No. 185576, 32nd Judicial District Court, Terrebonne Parish, State of Louisiana. During first-quarter 2024, Terrebonne Parish agreed to dismiss its lawsuit and FCX made the $15 million settlement payment in trust (which was accrued for in 2019) in accordance with the terms of the settlement agreement.

Indonesia Regulatory Matters

Refer to Notes 12, 13 and 14 of FCX’s 2023 Form 10-K for further discussion of Indonesia regulatory matters.

Export Licenses. In first-quarter 2024, PT-FI obtained approval for revised quotas for estimated concentrate and anode slime exports through May 2024. PT-FI is working with the Indonesia government to obtain approvals to continue exports of copper concentrates and anode slimes until the Indonesia smelter projects are fully commissioned and reach designed operating conditions, which is currently expected by year-end 2024.