The Bagdad mine in Arizona is undergoing a $3.5-billion expansion. Credit: Freeport-McMoRan
United States mining giant Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) is calling on the Trump administration to sweeten incentives for domestic copper producers and cut permitting times to help offset weak metal grades, CEO Kathleen Quirk says.
While US-based miners enjoy lower tax rates compared with other jurisdictions, copper grades in the US make investing in new domestic operations less attractive, Quirk said in an interview. Copper mines in the US often have grades of about 0.3%, compared with 1% or more elsewhere, she said.
“We have a challenge in the US because the ore grades that we mine here are very low relative to what we mine internationally,” Quirk told The Northern Miner by videoconference in August. “Companies want to go where the higher grades are. If there are things in place that can help incentivize the…
