Crank up the strip mines we have an environment to save

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is set to approve expansions at several of its U.S. copper mines to capitalize on surging demand for the red metal as President Joe Biden moves to electrify the nation’s automobiles and combat climate change, Chief Executive Richard Adkerson told Reuters.

While the company opened a new U.S. mine last year in Arizona, it could soon greenlight expansions at three mines in the U.S. Southwest, Adkerson said, adding more than 250 billion pounds of copper each year to U.S. output.

“President Biden clearly has a commitment to addressing climate change, and any climate change initiative creates demand for copper,” Adkerson, who became Freeport’s chairman on Feb. 2, said in an interview this week. “We’re very well-situated to address that with the assets we have.”

Biden met with lawmakers on Wednesday to discuss how to secure supplies of electric vehicles and the minerals used to make them.

Freeport’s commitment to copper, Adkerson said, will remain and the company will avoid lithium, rare earths and other EV metals that are getting more attention on Wall Street. Adkerson, who has been CEO since 2003 and is now 74, said he has no plans to retire. LINK