Freeport-McMoRan board approves $4.5bn Bagdad copper expansion in Arizona

Freeport said the plan adds a new concentrator with about 115,000 metric tons a day of incremental nameplate processing capacity, plus a primary crusher, an overland conveyor, a water pipeline, a power line and more mining equipment. Freeport expects the project to more than double Bagdad's mining and milling rates.

Freeport expects long-term copper output above 400 million pounds a year, an increase of about 225 million pounds, or roughly 102,000 metric tons. Molybdenum output is projected above 20 million pounds, an increase of about 12 million pounds. Including molybdenum, Freeport puts the combined gain at roughly 130,000 metric tons of copper equivalent a year over the life of the mine.

Construction is expected to take about three and a half years and to support more than 4,000 direct and indirect jobs. President and chief executive Kathleen Quirk called the project "an important step in advancing Freeport's US copper growth strategy". Freeport says the expanded Bagdad would become the second-largest US copper mine, behind its Morenci operation, also in Arizona.

Cost increase

Earlier Freeport presentations put the incremental investment at about $3.5 billion, a figure the company flagged as under review. The approved figure is about $1 billion, or 29%, higher. Trade reports attributed the increase to cost escalation, changes in project scope and revised estimates after further engineering. Freeport warns that inflation could push estimates higher again.

Project economics are supported at a copper price of about $4.00 per pound and a molybdenum price of $20 per pound. Freeport expects economies of scale, automation and molybdenum by-product credits to cut long-term unit net cash costs by about 20%.

US supply context

US mines produced about 1.0 million metric tons of copper in 2025, USGS estimates cited by StockTitan show, so the added 102,000 tons equals about a tenth of national output. Arizona alone produced about 70% of US copper that year. Bagdad made 149 million pounds of copper in 2025, so the planned increase of about 225 million pounds would more than double the mine's output.

Net imports supplied 57% of US refined copper consumption in 2025, according to USGS data cited by Mining.com. Miners are steering billions into existing sites because big new deposits are harder to find and develop, Briefs reported, and copper has traded near record levels this year on tight supply and disruptions at major mines.

Timeline and funding

Engineering, procurement planning and early works are under way. Freeport has not named an engineering, procurement and construction contractor. About 20% of project costs are to be funded in 2027, 30 to 35% in 2028, and the balance in 2029 and 2030, treated as discretionary under Freeport's financial policy.

Bagdad has operated since 1945 and holds reserves of 2.6 billion metric tons grading 0.43% copper equivalent, a reserve life exceeding 80 years before additional resources. The mine became the first major US mine with a fully autonomous haulage fleet in 2025. Freeport runs seven US copper operations, a smelter and rod mill in Miami, Arizona, and a refinery and rod mill in El Paso, Texas, Construction Review reported, and more Bagdad concentrate would feed that domestic chain.

President Donald Trump's March 2025 minerals order directed agencies to expedite priority projects and expanded access to Defense Production Act authorities for domestic mineral production, explicitly including copper, Mining.com reported.