Freeport-McMoRan Approves US$4.5 Billion Bagdad Copper Mine Expansion Project

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 4, the board of directors of U.S. mining company Freeport-McMoRan approved a US$4.5 billion investment plan for the expansion and modernization of the Bagdad copper-molybdenum mine in Arizona, aiming to more than double the mine's mining and ore processing capacity. Upon completion, annual copper production is expected to exceed 400 million pounds and annual molybdenum production to exceed 20 million pounds, elevating the mine to the second-largest in the United States.

The expansion will add a new ore processing facility with a designed throughput capacity of approximately 115,000 tonnes per day, along with a primary crushing station, a long-distance belt conveyor system, water supply pipelines, power transmission lines and supporting mine infrastructure. The new processing facility will have room for further capacity increases in the future.

The project corresponds to ore reserves of approximately 2.6 billion tonnes at a copper-equivalent grade of 0.43%. The expansion is expected to add approximately 225 million pounds of copper production and 12 million pounds of molybdenum production per year, equivalent to approximately 130,000 tonnes of additional copper-equivalent output per year over the life of the mine.

The mine modernization will deploy a fully autonomous haul truck fleet, supported by an expanded mining equipment fleet. Freeport has previously completed the autonomous conversion of haul trucks at the Bagdad mine, and the new mining capacity will be integrated with the expanded crushing, conveying and ore processing facilities.

Under the investment schedule announced by the company, approximately 20% of the total budget is planned to be spent in 2027, 30% to 35% in 2028, and the remaining investment between 2029 and 2030. The company is advancing engineering design, procurement planning and early works, with an expected construction period of approximately 3.5 years and a target of first incremental production by mid-2030.

Freeport estimates that the expansion project will reduce long-term unit net cash costs by approximately 20%, with economic evaluations based on a copper price of approximately US$4 per pound and a molybdenum price of US$20 per pound. The construction phase is expected to create more than 4,000 direct and indirect jobs.