SOUTH AMERICA

Locations in Chile and Peru

Our skilled and versatile team finds, extracts, processes and provides the raw materials that fuel and connect the world. Copper. Molybdenum. Gold. Cobalt. The elements we supply play a crucial role in delivering the technology that drives the future.

On our team, you’ll have the opportunity to reach your potential and build a rewarding career. We invite you to learn more about our people and our culture. Explore our regions and areas of expertise, or if you are a resident of Peru or Chile, visit our in-country site to apply. Then join us at Freeport-McMoRan and make the most of your skills and talent!

Chile

El Abra
El Loa province   |   Copper mine

Located 47 miles north of Calama in Chile’s El Loa province, El Abra is an open-pit copper mining complex. The El Abra operation includes a solvent extraction / electrowinning facility; a 125,000 metric ton-per-day crushed leach circuit; and a similar-sized, run-of-mine leaching operation. Operating since 1996, the future looks bright here—exploration results have identified a significant additional sulfide resource at El Abra. Freeport-McMoRan owns a 51 percent interest in El Abra, and the remaining 49 percent is held by the state-owned copper enterprise Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (CODELCO).

Peru

Our operations in South America include Peru's Cerro Verde mine that produces copper and molybdenum concentrates.

Cerro Verde
Arequipa region   |   Copper and molybdenum mining complex

Our mining complex Cerro Verde, located 20 miles southwest of Arequipa, is an open-pit copper and molybdenum mine that has been in operation since 1976. Cerro Verde’s current operation consists of an open-pit copper mine, a 120,000-metric-ton-per-day concentrator and solvent extraction / electrowinning leaching facilities. Leach copper production comes from a 39,000-metric- tons-per-day crushed leach facility and a run-of-mine leach system. A large-scale expansion recently was completed that will triple the concentrator capacity to 360,000 metric tons per day.

We have a 53.56 percent ownership stake in Cerro Verde. SMM Cerro Verde Netherlands B.V., a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining, owns 21 percent, and Compañia de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. owns 19.58 percent. The remaining 5.86 percent is owned by other shareholders whose shares are publicly traded on the Lima Stock Exchange.