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Contingencies and Commitments (Unaudited) | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS Environmental Newtown Creek. From the 1930s until 1964, Phelps Dodge Refining Corporation (PDRC), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of FCX, operated a copper smelter, and from the 1930s until 1984 operated a copper refinery, on the banks of Newtown Creek (the creek), which is a 3.5-mile-long waterway that forms part of the boundary between Brooklyn and Queens in New York City. Heavy industrialization along the banks of the creek and discharges from the City of New York’s sewer system over more than a century resulted in significant environmental contamination of the waterway. In 2010, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notified PDRC, four other companies and the City of New York that EPA considers them to be potentially responsible parties (PRPs) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. The notified parties began working with EPA to identify other PRPs. In 2010, EPA designated the creek as a Superfund site, and in 2011, PDRC and five other parties (the Newtown Creek Group, NCG) entered an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) to perform a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) to assess the nature and extent of environmental contamination in the creek and identify potential remedial options. The parties’ RI/FS work under the AOC and their efforts to identify other PRPs are ongoing. The final draft RI, which addressed all remaining EPA comments, was submitted in October 2021 and NCG expects EPA’s formal acceptance after their review. NCG expects to submit the draft FS in late 2025 and currently expects EPA to select a creek-wide remedy in 2026, with the actual remediation construction starting several years later. In July 2019, the NCG entered into an AOC to conduct a Focused Feasibility Study (FFS) of the first two miles of the creek to support an evaluation of an interim remedy for that section of the creek. In July 2021, EPA terminated the FFS, which effectively incorporates remediation of the lower creek with the site-wide remedy. FCX’s environmental liability balance for the creek was $313 million at September 30, 2021. The final costs of fulfilling this remedial obligation and the allocation of costs among PRPs are uncertain and subject to change based on the results of the RI/FS, the remedy ultimately selected by EPA and related allocation determinations. Changes to the overall cost of this remedial obligation and the portion ultimately allocated to PDRC could be material to FCX. Litigation There were no significant updates to previously reported legal proceedings included in Note 12 of FCX’s 2020 Form 10-K, other than the matters discussed below. Asbestos and Talc Claims. As previously disclosed, since approximately 1990, various FCX affiliates have been named as defendants in a large number of lawsuits alleging personal injury from, among other things, exposure to asbestos or talc allegedly contained in industrial products, and more recently alleging the presence of asbestos contamination in talc-based cosmetic and personal care products. Cyprus Amax Minerals Company (CAMC), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of FCX, and Cyprus Mines Corporation (Cyprus Mines), a wholly owned subsidiary of CAMC, are among the targets of such lawsuits. Cyprus Mines and subsidiaries were engaged in talc mining and processing from 1964 until 1992 when Cyprus Mines exited its talc business. On February 13, 2019, Imerys Talc America (Imerys), the current owner of the talc business assets and liabilities previously owned by Cyprus Mines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On December 22, 2020, Imerys filed an amended bankruptcy plan disclosing a global settlement with Cyprus Mines and CAMC, which provides a framework for a full and comprehensive resolution of all current and future potential liabilities arising out of the Cyprus Mines talc business, including claims against FCX, its affiliates, Cyprus Mines and CAMC. The hearing to consider confirmation of the Imerys bankruptcy plan previously scheduled to be held in November 2021 has been cancelled following a recent decision by the bankruptcy judge to invalidate a substantial number of votes in favor of the plan. Consistent with the global settlement agreement, Cyprus Mines commenced its own bankruptcy process on February 11, 2021, and talc-related litigation against both Cyprus Mines and Cyprus Amax Minerals Company is stayed through 2021. The global settlement is subject to, among other things, votes by claimants in both the Imerys and Cyprus Mines bankruptcy cases as well as bankruptcy court approvals in both cases, and there can be no assurance that the global settlement will be successfully implemented. FCX has a $130 million liability balance at September 30, 2021, associated with the proposed settlement. Louisiana Parishes Coastal Erosion Cases. As discussed in Note 12 of FCX's 2020 Form 10-K, certain FCX affiliates were named as defendants, along with numerous co-defendants, in 13 cases out of a total of 42 cases filed in Louisiana state courts by six south Louisiana parishes (Cameron, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. John the Baptist and Vermilion), alleging that certain oil and gas exploration and production operations and sulphur mining and production operations in coastal Louisiana contaminated and damaged coastal wetlands and caused significant land loss along the Louisiana coast. In 2019, affiliates of FCX reached an agreement in principle to settle all 13 cases. The maximum out-of-pocket settlement payment will be $23.5 million with the initial payment of $15 million to be paid upon execution of the settlement agreement. The settlement agreement must be executed by all parties, including authorized representatives of the six south Louisiana parishes originally plaintiffs in the suit and certain other non-plaintiff Louisiana parishes and the state of Louisiana. The agreement in principle does not include any admission of liability by FCX or its affiliates. FCX recorded a charge in 2019 for the initial payment of $15 million, which will be paid upon execution of the settlement agreement. The settlement agreement has been executed by the FCX affiliates, the state of Louisiana and 8 of the 12 Louisiana parishes. FCX is continuing its efforts to finalize the settlement. Other Matters PT-FI and PT Smelting Export Licenses. In March 2021, PT-FI received a one-year extension of its export license through March 15, 2022. In July 2021, PT Smelting received a six-month extension of its anodes slimes export license, which currently expires December 30, 2021. Cerro Verde Royalty Dispute. SUNAT (National Superintendency of Customs and Administration), the Peru national tax authority, assessed mining royalties on ore processed by the Cerro Verde concentrator for the period December 2006 to December 2013. Cerro Verde contested each of these assessments because it believes that its 1998 stability agreement exempts from royalties all minerals extracted from its mining concession, irrespective of the method used for processing such minerals. Since 2014, Cerro Verde has been paying the disputed assessments for the period from December 2006 through December 2013 under installment payment programs provided under Peru law. In third-quarter 2021, Cerro Verde paid the balance of its royalty dispute liabilities (payments totaled $356 million in third-quarter 2021 and $421 million for the first nine months of 2021) and is proceeding with international arbitration as previously disclosed in FCX’s 2020 Form 10-K. Development Progress of Greenfield Smelter at East Java. On January 7, 2021, the Indonesia government levied an administrative fine of $149 million for the period from March 30, 2020, through September 30, 2020 (additional fines could be levied on exports after September 30, 2020), on PT-FI for failing to achieve physical development progress on the greenfield smelter as of July 31, 2020. PT-FI responded to the Indonesia government objecting to the fine because of events outside of its control that caused a delay in development progress for the greenfield smelter at East Java. PT-FI believes that its communications regarding these delays during 2020 with the Indonesia government were not properly considered before the administrative fine was levied. In June 2021, the Indonesia government issued a ministerial decree for the calculation of an administrative fine for lack of smelter development in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. PT-FI is continuing to discuss this matter with the Indonesia government as well as provide additional documentation to support its position on the cause of delays in development progress on the greenfield smelter. During the first nine months of 2021, PT-FI recorded charges totaling $16 million for a potential settlement of the administrative fine which is expected to include a revised construction schedule for the greenfield smelter. No additional fine is expected for the construction period after July 2020 based on the revised schedule. The final settlement could differ from the amounts recorded. Chiyoda Contract. In July 2021, PT-FI awarded a construction contract to Chiyoda for the construction of a new greenfield smelter in Gresik, Indonesia with an estimated contract cost of $2.8 billion.

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