Freeport-McMoRan history

In 1922, Freeport started producing sulfur from Hoskins Mound in Brazoria County, Texas.

Headquarters for the holding company were located in New York City and Eric Swenson served as the company's first president, remaining in that office until 1930.

1931: Freeport purchases a controlling interest in Cuban-American Manganese Corp.

When he became president in 1933, company operations began at Grand Ecaille, a sulfur dome in the Mississippi delta region, 45 miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Before its closure in 1935, the find yielded more than five million long tons of sulfur.

In 1936 the corporate name was changed from Freeport Texas Company to Freeport Sulphur Company.

Another Freeport subsidiary, Nicaro Nickel Co., chartered in 1942, was under contract to the United States government and contributed more than 63 million pounds of nickel to the war effort.

The plant closed in 1947 when it became unworkable to cover production costs and sell the ore at competitive peacetime prices.

In 1952 the company pioneered a process substituting seawater for fresh water in sulfur mining.

In 1955, Freeport Nickel invested $119 million, of which $100 million came from the United States government, into construction of a nickel-cobalt mine at Moa Bay, Cuba, and a refinery at Port Nickel, Louisiana.

In 1956, the company formed the Freeport Oil Company.

On March 11, 1957, the United States government announced a contract to buy nickel and cobalt from the company.

In 1958, the company sold an oil discovery near Lake Washington in Louisiana for approximately $100 million to Magnolia Petroleum Company.

1960 Freeport Sulphur confirms Dutch discovery of the Ertsberg copper and gold deposit in Indonesia.

Robert C. Hills became president of Freeport in 1961 and remained in office for six years.

During his administration the company produced a record two million tons of sulfur and became the world's largest sulfur producer for 1963.

In 1967, the company negotiated a contract with the Indonesian government to develop the Ertsberg deposit.

The plant produced its first shipments of phosphoric acid and sulfur acid in 1968.

1969 McMoRan Exploration formed by Ken McWilliams (“Mc”), Jim Bob Moffett (“Mo”) and Mack Rankin (“Ran”).

In 1970 stockholders voted to delist the company from the Salt Lake City Stock Exchange.

1971 Freeport Sulphur changes name to Freeport Minerals Company as a result of widened activities as a diversified minerals producer.

Because the find, known as Grasberg Prospect, was located in a remote, mountainous region, open-pit mining operations did not begin until late 1972.

In 1973 it formed a joint petroleum exploration program with Dow Chemical Company.

In 1975 the company began a $36 million onshore oil and gas exploration and development program with Transco Exploration Company.

In 1977 a four-member operating committee headed by Moffett was named to assume the duties of McWilliams and Rankin, who stepped down as cochairmen.

When the plant at Grand Ecaille closed in 1978, more than 40 million tons of sulfur had been produced.

In 1979 the name was changed from McMoRan Exploration Company to McMoRan Oil & Gas Company.

In 1980 FMC reported a record of $147.4 million in company earnings.

In 1981, Freeport Minerals Company merged with the McMoRan Oil and Gas Company.

Although the company was unable to put a value on these properties, its annual report for 1982 listed entire oil and gas assets at $1.06 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan in 1983 purchased Stone Exploration Corporation, a company engaged in gas exploration, development, and production, primarily in south Louisiana.

In 1984 Moffett succeeded Schmidt as chairman and chief executive officer.

Operational costs of the organization were significantly reduced beginning in 1985 when corporate headquarters in New York City were moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and combined with the company's office there.

In 1986 the parent company formed Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners (FRP), whose operations included the production of phosphate, nitrogen fertilizer products, sulfur, and geothermal resources, and the recovery of uranium oxide from phosphoric acid.

Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold was founded by James R. Moffett and B. M. Rankin, Jr. on November 10, 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ.“

1988 Grasberg copper-gold deposit discovered in Indonesia.

In November 1989 Moffett outlined a plan to sell between $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion in assets to reduce longstanding debts.

At the end of 1990, Freeport-McMoRan stated that it planned to auction an additional $750 million of its assets, again as part of its debt-reduction goal.

1991 Freeport-McMoRan Copper Co. changes name to Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. to reflect significant growth in gold reserves.

In 1994, the company completed the corporate spin-off of its entire interest in Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which owned the Grasberg mine.

1995 Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. established as an independent public company through a spin-off from Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. spent $1.06 billion in a stock swap in 1996 to acquire another fertilizer competitor, Arcadian Corp.

In 1997, IMC Global, a large fertilizer producer, acquired Freeport-McMoRan Inc., the former parent company that now owned the sulfur and fertilizer businesses, in a $750 million transaction.

1998 McMoRan Exploration Co. formed with the merger of McMoRan Oil & Gas Company and Freeport-McMoRan Sulphur Co., Inc.

2002 Plains Exploration & Production Company established as an independent public company through a spin-off from Plains Resources Inc.

In 2003, the company was subpoenaed as part of an investigation by anti-trust authorities in the United States, Canada, and Europe into price fixing in the copper industry.

On March 19, 2007, the company acquired Phelps Dodge and became the largest copper producer of any public company in the world.

In 2012, the company announced agreements to acquire affiliated companies McMoRan Exploration Company and Plains Exploration & Production Company for a total enterprise value of over $20 billion.

2013 FCX acquires Plains Exploration & Production Company and McMoRan Exploration Co. – adding a high quality portfolio of oil and gas assets to its global mining business.”

In 2014, the company sold its assets in the Eagle Ford shale to Encana for $3.1 billion.

On December 28, 2015, the company announced that James R. Moffett would resign as chairman of the company and be replaced by Gerald J. Ford.

In May 2016, the company sold a 13% interest in its Morenci Mine to Sumitomo Group for $1 billion in cash.