Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. Announces Impacts from PT-FI Labor Strike

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is providing this update
on the status of PT Freeport Indonesia′s (PT-FI) Grasberg operations in
Papua, Indonesia following a labor strike which began on September 15,
2011.

PT-FI is negotiating a two-year extension of its bi-annual Collective
Labor Agreement which is scheduled for renewal on September 30, 2011. On
September 15, 2011, PT-FI′s union workforce, which includes
approximately 8,000 hourly employees, commenced a 30-day strike. There
is no legal basis for the strike under Indonesian law.

PT-FI is committed to work in good faith with union leaders and
representatives of the mediation team appointed by the Government of
Indonesia to reach agreement on the new labor agreement and to restore
normal operations. The compensation package being proposed by PT-FI is
highly competitive and includes a substantial increase in base
compensation, an enhanced bonus program, attractive retirement benefits
and other benefits for the employees and their families.

The strike has limited mining, milling and concentrate shipping
activities at PT-FI. Approximately 50% of the workforce, primarily
contractors and non-union staff employees, have reported to work and are
maintaining critical operations so that full operations can resume
quickly upon conclusion of the strike. PT-FI is developing revised
operating plans, which will be implemented during the strike, to begin
increasing mining and milling rates with a reduced workforce.

The estimated impact of the work stoppage to aggregate daily production,
including joint venture interests, approximates 3 million pounds of
copper and 5 thousand ounces of gold for each day of the work stoppage.
PT-FI is seeking to minimize the production and cost impacts associated
with the strike.

FCX′s consolidated third quarter sales estimates, reported in July 2011,
of 940 million pounds of copper and 415 thousand ounces of gold are
expected to be unfavorably impacted by the strike. FCX will provide
updated estimates as additional information becomes available about the
duration of the strike and PT-FI′s mitigation efforts, including the
effect of revised operating plans.

James R. Moffett, Chairman of the Board and Richard C. Adkerson,
President and Chief Executive Officer, said, 'The PT-FI management team
continues to work diligently and constructively to reach agreement on a
new labor agreement that is reasonable and fair to all parties.In
2010, the contribution from Grasberg to the Government of Indonesia and
the local community, including taxes and domestic wages and procurement
totaled more than $3.8 billion.We are committed to maintaining
an attractive work environment for our employees and look forward to
concluding the negotiations on a mutually agreed basis as soon as
possible.?

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 minerals
district, 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 DRC.
Additional information about FCX is available on FCX's website at 'www.fcx.com.?

Cautionary Statement.This press release contains
forward-looking statements in which FCX discusses its potential future
performance.Forward-looking statements are all statements other
than statements of historical facts, such as those statements regarding
projected ore grades and milling rates, projected production and sales
volumes, projected unit net cash costs, projected operating cash flows,
projected capital expenditures, exploration efforts and results, mine
production and development plans, liquidity, other financial commitments
and tax rates, the impact of copper, gold, molybdenum and cobalt price
changes, potential prepayments of debt, future dividend payments and
potential share purchases.The words 'anticipates,? 'may,? 'can,?
'plans,? 'believes,? 'estimates,? 'expects,? 'projects,? 'intends,?
'likely,? 'will,? 'should,? 'to be,? and any similar expressions are
intended to identify those assertions as forward-looking statements.

FCX cautions readers that forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and its actual results may differ
materially from those anticipated, projected or assumed in the
forward-looking statements.Important factors that can cause
FCX's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the
forward-looking statements include commodity prices, mine sequencing,
production rates, industry risks, regulatory changes, political risks,
the potential effects of violence in Indonesia, the resolution of
administrative disputes in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
weather-related risks, labor relations, including the resolution of
labor negotiations in Indonesia, environmental risks, litigation
results, currency translation risks and other factors described in more
detail under the heading 'Risk Factors? in FCX's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as updated by our subsequent
filings with the SEC.

Investors are cautioned that many of the assumptions on which our
forward-looking statements are based are likely to change after our
forward-looking statements are made, including for example commodity
prices, which we cannot control, and production volumes and costs, some
aspects of which we may or may not be able to control. Further, we may
make changes to our business plans that could or will affect our
results. We caution investors that we do not intend to update our
forward-looking statements notwithstanding any changes in our
assumptions, changes in our business plans, our actual experience, or
other changes, and we undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements more frequently than quarterly.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

Financial
Contacts:

Kathleen L. Quirk, 602-366-8016

or

David
P. Joint, 504-582-4203

or

Media Contact:

Eric
E. Kinneberg, 602-366-7994