New York, Jan 16, 2026, 20:59 EST — Market closed.
- Freeport-McMoRan slipped 2.1%, ending the last U.S. session at $58.71.
- A recent SEC filing revealed a mine-safety shutdown order at its Morenci site, which was lifted within the same day.
- Copper holding above $13,000 a metric ton has kept FCX in focus ahead of its Jan. 22 earnings.
Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc dropped 2.1%, closing Friday at $58.71 ahead of the long weekend. U.S. markets will remain closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, with trading resuming Tuesday. (Reuters)
Copper sits near record highs, pulling miners into the spotlight as investors wrestle with whether the rally can hold. The metal climbed above $13,000 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, marking about a 50% gain over the last year, according to a Reuters Breakingviews piece. But the column also cautioned that factors like pre-tariff stockpiling and supply disruptions might be inflating prices more than the market is willing to admit. (Reuters)
Freeport shared an update this week via a Form 8-K. It revealed that the Mine Safety and Health Administration slapped an “imminent danger” order on the Morenci mine in Arizona after workers were spotted on an elevated conveyor belt without fall protection. Thankfully, no injuries were reported, and the order was lifted as of Jan. 14. (SEC)
An “imminent danger” order is a stop-work directive from regulators that requires employees to leave the affected area until the hazard is fixed. Freeport said it responded with “good faith cooperation” to the agency’s order.
Freeport’s board announced total cash dividends of $0.15 per share, divided into a base and variable portion. The payout is set for Feb. 2, to shareholders recorded by Jan. 15, the company said. (Fcx)
Security concerns from Indonesia have quietly persisted. Indonesian troops freed 18 Freeport Indonesia employees who had been trapped for three days at a Papua outpost, officials confirmed Thursday. “They intimidated the workers, fired shots to frighten or trouble them psychologically,” defence ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait told Reuters. (Reuters)
Copper demand is now closely linked with the AI buildout, and miners are clearly positioning themselves for that. Rio Tinto announced it will supply copper extracted via leaching from an Arizona mine to Amazon’s AI data centers. Reuters also highlighted that Freeport has been using leach technology for years and projects leach output reaching 800 million pounds annually by 2030. (Reuters)
For FCX traders, the setup heading into next week boils down to one key factor: copper price moves. The stock will react sharply to anything that alters the supply story—whether that’s changes in tariff outlooks, new operational hiccups, or updated signals on demand from China and the U.S.
Leverage works both ways. If copper’s rally owes much to short-term stockpiling, miners can lose those gains just as fast once demand cools. Meanwhile, events—be they safety issues in Arizona or security troubles in Papua—can stir up headline risk unrelated to the metal itself.
Freeport’s next major event is set for Jan. 22, when it will hold its fourth-quarter 2025 conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET. Investors will focus on sales volumes, cost figures, and any updates regarding 2026 plans. The key question: will management sound cautious or confident amid current copper prices? (Fcx)
