Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, a major copper producer and operates the world's largest gold mine, the Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia.
It was founded 1912 by the son of a Swedish banker to develop sulfur mining along the U.S. Gulf Coast concurrently with Freeport, Texas. In 1913, it incorporated as a vertically integrated holding company including numerous subsidiaries like gas and light, railroad, oil from Tampico, Mexico, and a refinery. After 1930, the company diversified by buying into manganese mines, nickel during World War II, potash and the Cuban American Manganese Corporationin the 1950s. Since 1967, the company has mined the Ertsberg deposit of gold and copper in the Grasberg mine, where since 2017 it has been holding a 49% interest. In the 1990s the Rio Tinto Group invested in Freeport and IMC Group acquired its fertilizer business.
The multinational company which owns subsidiaries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa has caused extensive, long-term and irreversible environmental damage in areas, where it has operated. It has been criticized for violating human rights in Papua. In 2018, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold along with 90 additional Fortune 500 companies paid no federal taxes as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
In July 2026, Freeport-McMoRan projected long-term growth driven by a forecasted 50% increase in global copper demand by 2040, supporting electric vehicle and clean energy technologies.
History
The Freeport Sulphur Company was founded July 12, 1912, by the eldest son of Swante M. Swenson, banker Eric Pierson Swenson, with a group of investors, to develop sulfur mining at Bryan Mound salt dome, along the U.S. Gulf Coast.Poor's Poor's Government and Municipal Supplement, Poor's Publishing Company, 1922, p. 760. Freeport, Texas was also established in Nov. 1912 to house workers, and serve as a port for Houston, rivaling Galveston and Corpus Christi.
Freeport mined sulfur along the Gulf Coast using the Frasch process, the patents for which had expired in 1908, a disruptive innovation for the automated mining of previously inaccessible sulphur deposits at a cost lower than that of established mines, where manual labor gained the mineral under the most appalling conditions. Previously, Union Sulphur Company founder and patent-holder Herman Frasch had enjoyed a monopoly on the process.Hazleton, Jared The Economics of the Sulphur Industry, Routledge, 2016, p. 204. The Bryan Mound salt dome just south of Freeport became the second Frasch sulphur mine in the world in 1912.
Freeport Texas Company
+ Sulphur production Year Long Tons % U.S. 1914 41,872 10 1915 136,751 26 1916 261,779 40 1917 537,248 47 1918 420,484 31 1919 314,845 26 1920 280,736 22 1921 55,835 3 1922 161,446 9 1923 581,574 29 1924 197,970 16 1925 409,070 29 1926 584,220 31 1927 790,315 37 1928 907,970 46 1929 910,470 39 1930 782,580
Enterprise to support Freeport Sulphur's business and the new town's infrastructure led to the incorporation of a holding company on September 30, 1913, to join the newer assets with Freeport Sulphur and create a vertically integrated mining company around, at first, a single sulphur mine. Officers of the new holding company, Freeport Texas Company, were:
Eric. P. Swenson, President and Director (Freeport Sulphur founder, son of Swante M. Swenson) Edward E. Dickinson, vice-president and Director F.M. Altz, Secretary Swante M. Swenson, Treasurer (son of Eric P. Swenson) Charles H. Findlay, Auditor (son of Hugh Findlay and his third wife, Mary Ellen Smith) Directors Eric P. Swenson Edward E. Dickinson Richard H. Williams (son of Richard H. Williams) Harry K. Knapp Samuel McRoberts Charles P. Northrop Charles A. Stone Frank A. Vanderlip Sidell Tilghman (son of General Lloyd Tilghman) Eppa Hunton Jr. (son of late Virginia Senator, Brig. Gen. Eppa Hunton) Charles E. Herrmann
+ Shares of Freeport Texas Co. issued at par ($100) for cash Date Issued Total raised Incorp. 10,440 $1,044,000 Oct. 15, 1913 4,560 $1,500,000 Apr. 23, 1914 5,000 $2,000,000 Oct. 5, 1916 15,000 $3,500,000
On May 7, 1917, all 35,000 outstanding shares were exchanged for 500,000 new shares of no par value (at a rate of :1). The stock was listed on the NYSE since 1919. Freeport raised an additional $4 million with an April 1, 1922 issue of convertible bonds, almost all of which were converted to common stock right away. Of the new total of 732,000 authorized shares 729,844 were then outstanding. In 1933, the no par common stock was exchanged for $10 par common and $2,500,000 convertible preferred were issued to finance the development of Grande Ecaille, about half of which was converted, the remainder called for redemption in 1938 at the end of which 796,380 common shares were outstanding. To raise general working capital Freeport Sulphur in 1939 sold $3,000,000 in 3% 20-year private debentures to Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and Sun Life Insurance Co. of Canada. On September 1, 1951, the 99th consecutive quarterly dividend was paid. Effective September 21, 1951 the 800,000 outstanding common shares were split 3-for-1 and the authorized capital was increased from 850,000 to 3,000,000 shares. On March 2, 1959, the 129th consecutive quarterly dividend was paid and effective May 5, 1959 the 2,504,850 outstanding shares were once again split 3-for-1 and the authorized capital was increased from 3,000,000 to 10,000,000 shares.
Freeport Sulphur was on the Fortune 500 in 1955, 1956, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970.
+ Freeport common stock price range and dividend payments 1920s 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 High 22 36 Low 8 43 Div. 0 $ $ $ 1930s 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 High 32 36 Low 10 18 Div. $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ pfd High 125 135 117 pfd Low 97 108 102 1940s 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 High 41 61 60 Low 27 34 38 Div. $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 1950s 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 High 81 46 123 Low 56 68 78 Div. $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
+ Freeport Texas subsidiariesPoor's Poor's Government and Municipal Supplement, Poor's Publishing Company, 1922, p. 758. Accessed March 2, 2018. Name Where incorp. When incorp. capital Freeport Sulphur Co. Texas Jul 12, 1912 $200,000 Freeport Town Site Company Texas Jul 12, 1912 $20,000Acquired 1,111 acres of real estate. Paved roads and sidewalks, provided water, electric lights and parks and built the Tarpon Inn hotel. By the end of 1918 had sold 550 lots (avg. $385.50 per lot). Freeport Terminal Company Texas Jul 12, 1912 $10,000In early 1914 a sulphur conveyor to and 3,600 tons per day loading devices at the pier of the Seaboard & Gulf Steamship Co in the Freeport ship channel were completed.
The Seaboard & Gulf steamer Honduras was the first to make use of it and on April 8 was the first outbound heavy cargo to leave the mouth of the Brazos River for nearly 20 years. These 2,000 tons to Baltimore and New York were the second sulphur shipment made by Freeport Sulpher Co.
The company was also responsible for new railroad construction to the port facilities.
See map:
A special engineering feature was a 4.5 mile, 1,500-p.s.i., 8-inch heated pipeline from the dock to the Bryan Mound plant, which enclosed a 2-inch steam line to allow the movement of the heavy and viscous crude oil. The pipe was especially curved to allow for thermal expansion and was the third iteration of attempts to solve the problem, a prior 4-inch and an 8-inch line having been salvaged.
In 1924 the properties were transferred to the Freeport Sulphur subsidiary and the Terminal Co. was dissolved.
The capacity of the loading dock was for many years not sufficient and a good portion of the sulphur was moved by rail for loading at Texas City. The mouth of the Brazos was diverted (at ) in 1929 and Freeport became a proper tidewater port. Freeport Light, Water & Ice Company Texas Oct 26, 1914 $5,000At the end of 1918, distributed water to 326 and electricity (bought from Freeport Sulphur Co.) to 243 customers.
The properties were sold to the Houston Lighting & Power Co. and the company liquidated in 1927. Freeport was connected to Houston Lighting's transmission system and Freeport Sulphur contracted to supply surplus current from its local power plant to Houston Lighting. Freeport Sulphur Transportation Co Delaware Nov 18, 1916 $25,000Managed the shipping of oil from Mexico to Freeport to satisfy Freeport Sulphur Co.'s demand for 4,000 barrels per day. Mexico was at the time on the upward slope of an oil boom which peaked in 1921 and the world's second largest producer behind the United States from 1918 until 1926. The heavy Panuco field oil was bought from the East Coast Oil Co. at their Torres terminal at Tampico. The company owned several ships: Freeport Sulphur No. 1: 2,588gt (21,000 barrels) tanker, 1,500 hp, 10.5knots, sold during 1927. Freeport Sulphur No. 2: 488gt steel tug, 1,200 hp, 7.5knots, sold for $47,500 on Apr 3, 1930 Freeport Sulphur No. 3 and 4: identical tank barges, 1,166gt (15,000 barrels), former coal barges bought in 1916 from the Shawmut Steamship Co. for $100k each. Freeport Sulphur No. 6: 40,000bbl tanker, sold for $270,000 on Dec. 2, 1929 Freeport Sulphur No. 5: not a tanker, but a 4,127 ton (6,600 dwt.) sulphur carrying bulk freighter sold in February 1940 amidst World War II to William Reardon-Smith Ltd, Cardiff.
Freeport had received its first shipment of Mexican oil in February 1914: 9,753 bbl. originating from Tampico on the barge General Pettibone towed by tug Senator Baily.
At the end of 1925 the company set plans in motion to convert its plants to use natural gas. The Houston Pipe Line Company completed a 54 mile 16-inch pipe line to supply Bryan and Hoskins Mound in October 1926 and laid more 16-inch pipe in 1930 (or applied asphalt coating to the excavated exiting line). The contract called for delivery of 30mmcfd, as replacement for a consumption of 6,000bpd of oil. This company also served Texas Gulf's Big Hill sulphur mine and many other industrial sites in Texas. See 1927 maps: This changeover saved the company some $2,000 per day on their principal cost contributor. Freeport spent $125,277.20 on boiler conversion and made available $750,000 in short-term loans out of its cash reserve to help finance the pipeline (i.e. paid an advance on their gas bill). Natural gas was regularly flared off at the time as a byproduct of oil production, difficult to transport to consumers far away and therefore very cheap in the oil producing Gulf Coast region. Freeport Gas CompanyFreeport Asphalt Company Texas Apr 23, 1918 $50,000completed a refinery at Bryanmound in 1919 to extract gasoline from the company's fuel oil supply.
The company changed its name to Freeport Asphalt Co at the end of 1922 at which time it had 300 asphalt tank cars.
The 5,000bpd skimming+asphalt refinery at Bryanmound was not in operation after Dec 31, 1927 and in 1930 entirely dismantled and the company was dissolved. Natural gas was now used to power the sulphur mines. Houston & Brazos Valley Railway Company Texas Apr 3, 1907 $24,000Incorporated as successor to the Velasco, Brazos & Northern Railway and was owner of a 23.6 mile line from Light House to Anchor, Texas (see map:). Owned trackage rights for 5 years from Nov 10, 1912 over 40 miles of International-Great Northern system to Houston and at Angleton the line crossed the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico. Had $420,000 30-year 5% bonds dated July 1, 1907 and $24k stock issued out of an authorized $120k. 50% of the stock and $79,000 of the bonds were owned by the Freeport Texas Co., 50% by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company of Kansas (since Apr 1913), which also owned $93,000 and guaranteed $210,000 of the bonds. Freeport Sulphur probably bought its interest early in 1913.