Freeport and Phelps - a marriage made in hell
i flew from santiago to los angeles this past week sitting next to a mining engineer who works for phelps out of phoenix... a mormon with six kids, one of whom is doing his mission assignment in india and, according to his dad, really seeing how the rest of the world lives, he seemed like a nice enough guy... but, hey... we're ALL nice guys, right...?
anyway, he told me about the various mines he travels to in south america - chile, peru, bolivia - and also told me about the new operation they're starting up in the congo that phelps can't seem to get anybody to volunteer for... i'm certainly no expert on mining operations but, with what i know about how mining interests have mercilessly exploited bolivia and peru, how mining has turned pristine alpine environments in my own former home state of colorado into tailings wastelands, how the eastern side of peru is being devastated by global energy companies, how mining companies in the congo are contributing to the ongoing tragedy in that country, and how the freeport mine in irian jaya has created an environmental disaster (see my post from december), i decided not to spoil the poor guy's flight and kept my mouth shut...
here's some pictures of the freeport operation in irian jaya...
Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold,
an American company, operates this
mine in the easternmost province of
Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea.
A view of lowland area where
Freeport has sent its mine waste,
taken in 2000. By today, almost
one billion tons of waste have
been sent down the river from
the copper and gold mine. Submit To Propeller
Tweet
anyway, he told me about the various mines he travels to in south america - chile, peru, bolivia - and also told me about the new operation they're starting up in the congo that phelps can't seem to get anybody to volunteer for... i'm certainly no expert on mining operations but, with what i know about how mining interests have mercilessly exploited bolivia and peru, how mining has turned pristine alpine environments in my own former home state of colorado into tailings wastelands, how the eastern side of peru is being devastated by global energy companies, how mining companies in the congo are contributing to the ongoing tragedy in that country, and how the freeport mine in irian jaya has created an environmental disaster (see my post from december), i decided not to spoil the poor guy's flight and kept my mouth shut...
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. said it agreed to buy much larger Phelps Dodge Corp. for $25.9 billion in cash and stock to create the world's largest publicly traded copper company.
The agreement is the latest multi-billion dollar takeover deal in the global mining industry, which has been consolidating as companies scramble to add reserves and try to capitalize on record high metal prices.
Copper now trades at $6,765, down from a record of $8,800 in May but up 53 percent on the year.
here's some pictures of the freeport operation in irian jaya...
Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold,
an American company, operates this
mine in the easternmost province of
Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea.
A view of lowland area where
Freeport has sent its mine waste,
taken in 2000. By today, almost
one billion tons of waste have
been sent down the river from
the copper and gold mine. Submit To Propeller
Tweet
posted by profmarcus at
11/20/2006
