Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. Announces Increase in Annual Common Stock Dividend to $2.00 Per Share
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) announced today that its
Board of Directors has authorized an increase in its annual common stock
dividend from $1.20 per share to $2.00 per share. Dividends are paid
quarterly as declared by the Board with the initial quarterly dividend
of $0.50 per share expected to be paid in February 2011.
James R. Moffett, Chairman of the Board of FCX, and Richard C.
Adkerson, FCX′s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, 'Our
Board′s action to increase the dividend on our common stock to $2.00 per
annum reflects our Company′s financial strength, its strong operating
performance and the positive outlook for our business and markets.The
financial policy established by our Board of Directors is designed to
maintain a strong balance sheet and financial flexibility to pursue
aggressively investments with attractive rates of returns, while
providing cash returns to shareholders from the strong cash flow
generated by our operations.?
The declaration and payment of dividends is at the discretion of the
Board and will depend on the company's financial results, cash
requirements, future prospects, and other factors deemed relevant by the
Board.
FCX has approximately 471 million shares of common stock outstanding.
FCX is a leading international mining company with headquarters in
Phoenix, Arizona. FCX operates large, long-lived, geographically diverse
assets with significant proven and probable reserves of copper, gold and
molybdenum. FCX has a dynamic portfolio of operating, expansion and
growth projects in the copper industry and is the world′s largest
producer of molybdenum.
The company′s portfolio of assets includes the Grasberg mining complex,
the world′s largest copper and gold mine in terms of recoverable
reserves, significant mining operations in the Americas, including the
large scale Morenci and Safford minerals districts in North America and
the Cerro Verde and El Abra operations in South America, and the Tenke
Fungurume minerals district in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Additional information about FCX is available on FCX′s web site at www.fcx.com.
Cautionary Statement.This press release contains
forward-looking statements in which we discuss factors we believe may
affect our potential future performance.Forward-looking
statements are all statements other than historical facts, such as
statements regarding timing of dividend payments.The declaration
and payment of dividends is at the discretion of the Company's Board of
Directors and will depend on the Company's financial results, cash
requirements, future prospects, and other factors deemed relevant by the
Board.Additionally, important factors that might cause future
results to differ from these projections include mine sequencing,
production rates, industry risks, commodity prices, political risks,
weather-related risks, labor relations, currency translation risks and
other factors described in FCX's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2009, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
Financial
Contacts:
Kathleen L. Quirk, 602-366-8016
or
David P.
Joint, 504-582-4203
or
Media Contact:
William L.
Collier, 504-582-1750