Freeport-McMoRan Leans on Low-Cost Copper Recovery as Prices Hold Near Records

Freeport-McMoRan shares traded near $72 on Tuesday, up modestly on the day and well within a 52-week range that has stretched from $34.96 to $80.24. The miner's edge in the current cycle comes from a leaching program that recovers copper from already-mined ore for less than $1 a pound, compared with the company's broader 2026 net cash cost of $1.90 a pound.

The company currently pulls about 200 million pounds of copper a year through leaching and is targeting 300 million pounds by year-end, with a longer-term goal of 800 million pounds annually. That cost advantage matters more as copper trades near record levels around $6.70 a pound, with S&P Global projecting mined supply could fall roughly 10 million metric tons short of demand by 2040.

Beyond leaching, Freeport is also counting on its Grasberg operation in Indonesia to reach 65% of capacity by mid-2026 and full capacity by the end of 2027, alongside brownfield projects in the pipeline for later in the decade.