Metals company Freeport McMoRan's board has approved a $4.5-billion expansion and modernisation programme for its Bagdad copper and molybdenum operation, in northwest Arizona, in the US.

"We are pleased to proceed with the Bagdad expansion, an important step in advancing Freeport’s US copper growth strategy. This low-risk brownfield project builds on Bagdad’s substantial reserve base, long operating history, existing infrastructure and experienced workforce to deliver new US copper and molybdenum production and further strengthen Freeport’s position as 'America’s copper champion',” comments Freeport president and CEO Kathleen Quirk.

The metals miner points out that the expansion project is expected to more than double the Bagdad operation's mining and milling rates and position the mine as the second-largest copper mine in the US.

Copper output from Bagdad is slated to increase by about 225-million pounds a year to more than 400-million pounds a year, while molybdenum production is expected to increase by about 12-million pounds a year to more than 20-million pounds a year.

The Bagdad mine has been in operation since 1945 and, in 2025, became the first major US mine to operate a fully autonomous haulage fleet.

The expansion and modernisation programme will include investment in an expanded processing capacity; new concentrator facilities to provide about 115 000 t a day of incremental processing capacity; and supporting infrastructure, including a new primary crusher, overland conveyor, water pipeline, power line, mining equipment and related facilities.

Construction of the new infrastructure will take about three and a half years to complete, with initial production targeted for mid-2030. The project is expected to create more than 4 000 direct and indirect jobs during construction.

The expanded operation is also expected to create thousands of long-term employment opportunities, while also reducing long-term unit net cash costs by about 20%.