Pengelolaan lingkungan adalah salah satu program kerja yang dilakukan PT Freeport Indonesia ( PTFI). Pengelolaan tailing atau pasir sisa tambang dan reklamasi telah dilakukan dengan baik di wilayah kerja perusahaan. Namun ternyata, PTFI juga peduli dengan apa yang terjadi di luar wilayah kerjanya.

Pelestarian satwa asli Papua misalnya. PTFI telah berhasil mengembalikan Labi-labi Moncong Babi ( Carretochelys insculpta) dan Kangguru Tanah ( Thylogale brunii) ke habitatnya di Tanah Papua.

Satwa-satwa endemik Papua itu semula diselundupkan ke luar Papua. Bahkan Labi-labi Moncong Babi yang hidungnya mirip hidung Babi, akan diselundupkan ke Taiwan dan China sebagai bahan makanan di negara-negara tersebut.

Setelah bekerjasama denngan Balai Konservasi dan Sumber Daya Alam (BKSD) Papua dan Pusat Penyelamatan Satwa Cikananga, Sukabumi, Jawa Barat, PT Freeport Indonesia pada Agustus 2006 telah memulangkan 2.930 ekor Labi-labi Moncong Babi yang telah dilepasliarkan di perairan Mimika. Sementara untuk Kangguru Tanah, telah dipulangkan ke Papua dan dilepasliarkan di taman nasional Wasur, Merauke sebanyak 21 ekor.

Selain labi-labi moncong babi, PT Freeport Indonesia juga memfasilitasi pengembalian 21 ekor kanguru tanah ke habitat aslinya di Taman Nasional Wasur, Merauke, Papua.

Hewan- hewan asal Merauke itu, semula ditemukan di Bogor, Bandung dan Jakarta dalam razia yang dilakukan Departemen Kehutanan dengan bekerjasama dengan Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) dan Kepolisian Republik Indonesia (Polri). Lima ekor kangguru yang saat itu tertangkap, dipelihara sementara di Pusat Penyelamatan Satwa Cikananga (PPSC), Sukabumi, Jawa Barat dan berkembang biak menjadi 22 Ekor. Dengan bantuan Departemen Lingkungan PTFI, ke 22 ekor Kanguru tersebut berhasil dikembalikan ke Papua.

Setelah mengalami masa rehabilitasi beberapa bulan di Kampung Nayaro, Timika, kangguru-kangguru tersebut diberangkatkan dengan pesawat Garuda dari Timika ke Jayapura. Kemudian dengan pesawat Merpati diterbangkan dari Jayapura ke Merauke pada 11 Desember 2007 lalu. Kedatangan kawanan hewan marsupial itu disambut secara resmi oleh Pemda Merauke yang dipimpin langsung Bupati Drs. John Guba Gebze, termasuk puluhan warga suku Marid, pemilik ulayat daerah tersebut dengan tari-tarian adat.

Di samping itu, PTFI juga telah melakukan sejumlah besar kajian ekologi dan keaneragaman hayati di dalam wilayah proyek PTFI dalam rangka kemudahan pengelolaan keanekaragaman hayati secara efektif.

Kajian itu dilakukan bersama para pakar dari Indonesia maupun luar negeri, yang mencakup juga survei terhadap tumbuh-tumbuhan, etno-botani, tanaman obat-obatan, mamalia, burung, hewan amfibi, reptilia, ikan, fauna tanah, dan serangga air maupun darat. Sebagian besar karya tersebut dapat langsung diterapkan dan tersedia bagi peneliti yang ditugaskan untuk mengembangkan rencana pengelolaan Taman Nasional Lorenz.

Program keanekaragaman hayati PTFI telah memberikan kontribusi yang signifikan bagi ilmu pengetahuan alam Papua di Papua melalui penemuan spesies baru, koleksi bahan acuan, serta penerbitan karya tulis, buku dan poster ilmiah.

PTFI melalui program tersebut juga telah mendukung sejumlah besar penelitian tentang keanekaragaman hayati di Papua, dengan koordinasi bersama beberapa LSM dan Pemerintah Indonesia. Hal ini termasuk ekspedisi yang terkenal, yaitu ekspedisi Conservation Internasional ke wilayah Pegunungan Foja, Papua pada tahun 2006 lalu. Ekspedisi ini menghasilkan penemuan sejumlah besar spesies baru tanaman, burung, katak, serangga dan mamalia. (Lucky Ireeuw)  

By Steve James

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Chief Executive Richard Adkerson says he has built the world's
largest publicly traded copper company without bluffing or nickel-and-diming.

"I don't have a poker face," he told Reuters in an interview when asked about deal-making in the hot metals sector. "People
can sit in a room and know how I feel about things." 

His straightforward approach and strong work ethic -- the byproducts of growing up in small-town America -- are the main
reasons Adkerson, 61, sits in the corner office at Freeport-McMoRan after pulling off a stunning $26 billion
acquisition of larger U.S. rival Phelps Dodge last year.

That deal immediately gave the company a portfolio of mines in Nevada, Peru, Australia, New Zealand and Africa to position
alongside their crown jewel -- the vast Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

It also served as a prelude to the major consolidation trend in mining that continues this year on record prices for gold,
copper and other metals. BHP Billiton threatens to eclipse the size of the Freeport-Phelps deal with an offer to buy Rio Tinto
for $147.4 billion. And Vale is weighing an offer for Xstrata which could more than triple the value of the Phelps deal.

Since the Phelps deal closed in March of 2007, bullish markets for Freeport's copper, gold and other mining byproducts sparked
a 77 percent increase in its stock price to $99 a share -- a  huge jump from the $17 value on the stock five years ago. It's a
track record his peers applaud.

"I have a lot of admiration for how he runs his business and how he's created value over the years," said Tom Albanese, Chief
Executive of Rio Tinto, who has worked with Adkerson since the two companies formed a joint venture in 1995.

"He is a very effective businessman, and the results certainly demonstrate that," Albanese told Reuters.

RECORD PRICES FUEL DEALS

The takeover thrust in mining is driven by commodity supply shortages, which have mixed with strong demand to push prices to
record highs. Adkerson, who began his career as an accountant with Arthur Andersen & Co, said these dynamics make
consolidation "inevitable."

"You have a situation where companies have generated so much cash through high commodity prices, and investment opportunities
are limited," he said in a measured Southern drawl, adding that a CEO with a merger mentality is a necessity.

"The days of having a manager who is totally technically oriented, who's not versed in the financial marketplace ... I
don't think you can be that way."

The key to success at the negotiating table, Adkerson noted, is not allowing the smaller details to detract from sealing the
deal. It's a lesson he learned from James "Jim-Bob" Moffett, Freeport's chairman, whom he has known for years.

"When you decide to do a deal, the most important thing is to get the deal done, not necessarily to trade for the best deal
that is there," he said. "You want to get the best terms you can, but too often people let deals get away from them."

Winning the trust of the other side is key, Adkerson said. "I've found that if you're up-front with people and honest,
straightforward and candid, that you can gain people's trust. Then you can find common ground."

MISSISSIPPI ROOTS

Adkerson's skills in finding common ground were honed in his hometown in Mississippi. Whether studying mathematics or working
in his parents' store, playing high-school football with Elvis Presley's cousins in Tupelo or as a national merit scholar at
Mississippi State University (MSU), Adkerson's psyche was steeped in America's post-World War II promise of unlimited
possibility.

His parents grew up on farms in west Tennessee and his father wound up managing department stores in small Southern towns.

"I think the first time I worked in a store, I was eight years old. I was part of that generation where the world was changing
and there was an expectation and an opportunity for people to have higher paying jobs and higher paying standard of living
than your parents," the executive said.

"I'm right in there with George Bush and Bill Clinton and Jimmy Buffett ... the first baby-boomers," he said with a laugh.

He has stayed true to his humble beginnings, according to Bill  Simmons, a retired accounting professor who taught Adkerson at
Mississippi State, where the executive is now president of the University Foundation Board.

"If you ran into him, you wouldn't think he had a dime. He's just an ordinary guy who has not got a big head at all," said
Simmons, who called Adkerson his best student in a 39-year teaching career.

Starting as an accountant in the oil and gas business before landing a job with Freeport in 1989, Adkerson could hardly have
imagined he would one day be involved in a multibillion-dollar deal involving mining giants. Or that, in just four years' time,
a global industrial building boom would push copper up to over $4 per pound, from 60 cents.

Having worked through the ups and downs of the oil and gas business from the 1970s and now the recent metals boom, he is
reluctant to predict prices. "People were predicting $100 oil in 1979-80; then oil went to $10 a barrel," he noted.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Adkerson, the father of three grown sons, has kept his home in New Orleans after the new company's headquarters moved to
Phoenix, Arizona. His house has been the target of protests by workers and environmentalists, who claim the company's mines --
particularly Grasberg -- have damaged local communities and ecosystems.

The Grasberg complex in Indonesia, one of the world's largest gold and copper mining operations, has also drawn controversy
due to the share of revenue going to native Papuans and the legality of payments to Indonesian security forces who help
guard the site.

Just like in negotiating a multibillion deal, Adkerson is keen to find common ground.

"In a lot of ways at the core of their views, I certainly do (share their views)," he said, adding that much of his free time
is spent outdoors hiking, hunting and fishing. "So it may sound ironic that you've got a guy involved in the mining industry
feeling that he wants to protect the environment."

He said environmental issues were important to Freeport's operations, not only the current effects of mining, but also
dealing with the environmental consequences of operations from years ago.

"The challenge with these environmental groups is that while many people are well-intentioned, they either are emotionally
driven or they don't have the technical understanding of how management of environmental issues needs to be dealt with."

Dealing with protests is part of the huge responsibility of heading a global mining company, Adkerson says. But when it
comes to pressure, the CEO said that sitting at the helm of the metals giant still ranks behind playing center for his high
school football team in Mississippi -- a state where football is "an obligation."
 
"I made a bad snap (pass) one night and we lost the game, and it was the headline in the paper the next day. So that was great
training," he laughed. (Additional reporting by Euan Rocha and Edward Tobin; editing by Gunna Dickson)

JAKARTA, Feb 4 (AFP) -- The local Indonesian unit of US mining giant Freeport said Monday that it paid the government here 1.8 billion dollars in 2007 amid soaring commodity prices and solid production.

Freeport said that besides the amount paid for corporate income tax, employee income tax, regional taxes and levies, it also paid 216 million in dividends and 164 million dollars in
royalties to the government.

The annual amount was 12.5 percent up on the 1.6 billion dollars the company, which is believed to be Indonesia's most significant taxpayer, paid in 2006, it said in a statement.

The payment amount fluctuates due to changes in commodity prices, sales and metal production levels.

Freeport said it had paid a total of 6.9 billion dollars to Jakarta from 1992 to 2007, in line with fulfilling its financial obligations under a 1991 contract with the Indonesian government.

"In the past two years our production has been good and commodity prices have also skyrocketed," Mindo Pangaribuan, a Freeport spokesman, told AFP.

Freeport Indonesia is 81 percent owned by US-based Freeport McMoRan. The remaining stakes are shared equally between the Indonesian government and company Indocopper Investama.

Freeport operates a huge gold and copper mine in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province.

Environmentalists have accused the mine of polluting the World Heritage-listed Lorenz National Park and dumping copper-rich ore around the edge of its operations. The firm disputes the claims.

Selain melakukan kewajiban membayar keuangan kepada Pemerintah, PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) telah lama ikut membangun Papua, seperti di bidang kesehatan, pendidikan, pengembangan usaha kecil dan menengah, pelestarian lingkungan dan pengembangan seni budaya.

Di bidang kesehatan, PTFI membangun dan mengelola dua rumah sakit dan tujuh pusat kesehatan masyarakat (Puskesmas) di Kabupaten Mimika yang diperuntukkan bagi penduduk asli Papua. Pelayanan kesehatan tersebut dilakukan dengan bekerjasama dengan lembaga swadaya masyarakat (LSM) lokal yaitu Lembaga Pengembangan Masyarakat Amungme dan Kamoro (LPMAK).

Di bidang pendidikan, masih bekerjasama dengan LPMAK, PTFI membantu peningkatan mutu sektor pendidikan di Papua. Program-program yang dilakukan adalah pemberian beasiswa kepada para pelajar dan mahasiswa asal Papua untuk belajar baik di lembaga pendidikan di dalam Papua, maupun di luar Papua, bahkan di luar negeri. Kerjasama dengan Keuskupan Timika juga dilakukan untuk program pengadaan guru di pedalaman. Program terbaru adalah penguatan kualitas pendidikan dasar dengan menyediakan fasilitas pendidikan.

Pengembangan ekonomi rakyat adalah program lainnya sebagai dukungan terhadap pembangunan ekonomi masyarakat Papua. Pembinaan usaha kecil dan menengah (UKM) dilakukan oleh PTFI melalui Departemen Social outreach & Local Development (SLD), juga bekerjasama dengan LPMAK dan Keuskupan Timika. Sampai dengan akhir tahun 2006, program pengembangan UKM yang dilakukan PTFI telah memiliki 110 usaha yang menyediakan lebih dari 1.600 peluang kerja. PTFI mendukung upaya pengembangan usaha lokal untuk memajukan pertumbuhan ekonomi setempat dalam rangka meningkatkan mutu kehidupan dan membuka peluang bagi masyarakat sekitar. Data dari survei ekonomi di Kabupaten Mimika yang merupakan lokasi di mana wilayah kerja PTFI berada menunjukkan bahwa sekitar 600 dari 726 UKM yang tercipta memiliki kaitan langsung dengan PTFI.
Belum lagi manfaat ekonomi yang tercipta dengan penyerapan tenaga kerja asli Papua oleh PTFI. Sampai dengan akhir tahun 2007, jumlah karyawan asli Papua di PTFI dan perusahaan kontraktornya sekitar 3.000 orang, termasuk 370 karyawan staff manajemen. Jumlah ini lebih banyak dibanding tahun 1996 yang hanya 600 orang karyawan dan tidak lebih dari 50 orang karyawan staff manajemen. Sementara itu, sebanyak 1.500 karyawan Papuan lainnya saat ini bekerja di perusahaan-perusahaan privatisasi yang melayani PTFI. Jumlah ini menunjukkan peningkatan sejak akhir tahun 2005.

PTFI juga menaruh kepedulian yang tinggi terhadap pengembangan budaya dan pelestarian lingkungan hidup di Papua. Di bidang seni budaya, PTFI memahami kebutuhan masyarakat Papua untuk memelihara tradisi budaya yang unik dan bertekad membantu masyarakat Papua untuk mewujudkan aspirasi tersebut. Sebagai langkah konkrit, PTFI telah lama beberapa kali menyelenggarakan Festival Seni Budaya Kamoro dan sekaligus memperkenalkannya kepada dunia internasional. PTFI juga menjadi sponsor bagi penyenggaraan kajian sosial, seni budaya, bahasa dan ekonomi terhadap masyarakat Amungme dan Kamoro.

PTFI juga mempunyai komitmen dalam pelestarian lingkungan, flora dan fauna di Papua. Selain pengelolaan tailing dan proyek-proyek reklamasi di areal operasional perusahaan yang berhasil dengan baik, PTFI juga peduli terhadap pelestarian satwa asli Papua. Salah satunya dengan mengembalikan satwa-satwa asli Papua hasil selundupan ke luar Papua, membudidayakan dan melepasliarkan satwa endemik Papua tersebut ke alam Papua.
Dengan demikian, berbagai program pengembangan dan pemberdayaan masyarakat di berbagai bidang, PTFI telah memberikan manfaat positif langsung maupun tidak langsung kepada masyarakat Papua, baik yang berada di areal operasional PTFI maupun di daerah lain di Provinsi Papua. ***

By Jae Hur

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the world's second-largest copper producer, won a cut in 2008 fees for processing the metal from Japanese smelters this week after rival BHP Billiton Ltd. reached a similar settlement.

The Phoenix-based company agreed so-called treatment and refining charges with smelters, including Pan Pacific Copper Co., Japan's biggest. It cut the fees for Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp. by 25 percent, respective company spokesmen Satoshi Oku and Nobuyuki Suzuki said by phone
today.

Lower charges for processing copper concentrates into refined metal, used in wires, tubes and pipes, may boost earnings for mining companies, including BHP and Freeport. They may also squeeze profit margins at smelters, affecting production levels.

``We reached a deal with Freeport on Jan. 21,'' Oku said. ``It was the same level as we settled with BHP last week.''

A phone call to Freeport spokesman William Collier was connected to a recorded message outside of normal office hours.

Pan Pacific, Japan's top copper smelter, also reached agreement with Freeport, said company spokesman Kan Komatsuzaki. He declined to give details of the fee level.

Pan Pacific is a joint venture between a unit of Nippon Mining Holdings Inc. and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. BHP Settlement

BHP, the world's biggest mining company, settled 2008 copper processing fees with major Japanese smelters last week at $45 a metric ton for smelting ore and 4.5 cents a pound for refining, down from last year's $60 and 6 cents.

Treatment charges are expressed in dollars per ton of concentrate received and refining fees in cents per pound of copper contained in the concentrate. The fees, which are deducted from the price paid by smelters to miners for the concentrate, usually fall when there is a shortage of the raw material as smelters compete for supplies.

BHP owns the Escondida mine, the world's largest copper mine, in Chile, while Freeport has the Grasberg mine, the world's second-largest, in Indonesia.

London Metal Exchange copper for delivery in three months, which reached a record $8,800 a ton in May 2006, gained 5.5 percent last year and traded at $6,960 a ton at 3:55 p.m. Singapore time.

BHP and other mining companies last year terminated so called ``price-participation'' clauses allowing smelters to benefit from copper price gains.

PHOENIX, Jan 23 (AP) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., one of the world's biggest copper miners, said Wednesday its fourth-quarter earnings fell 3 percent from a slew of one-time charges and higher costs, despite surging revenue.

Shares tumbled more than 8 percent, or $6.81, to $74.71 early Wednesday.

The company earned $414 million, or $1.05 per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $426 million, or $1.99 per share.

The miner recorded one-time charges of $120 million, or 29 cents per share, including accounting-related adjustments on the price of copper, higher property and equipment costs and debt reduction. Freeport-McMoRan recorded charges of $426 million, or $1.99 per share, in previous fourth quarter.

Revenue soared to $4.18 billion, from $1.64 billion in the prior-year period. The company said revenue was lifted by strength in its large-scale copper and molybdenum operations in the Americas.

Analysts expected a profit of $1.68 per share on revenue of $4.43 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Financial. Analyst forecasts typically exclude one-time charges.

Company executives said they expect to continue development of mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Americas and Indonesia in the coming year.

"We have significant reserves and growth opportunities to supply products to a world that has growing requirements for the commodities we produce," James R. Moffett, chairman of the company's board, and CEO Richard C. Adkerson said in a written statement.

The company expects consolidated 2008 sales from mines of about 4.3 billion pounds of copper, 1.3 million ounces of gold and 75 million pounds of molybdenum.

AP Business Writer Samantha Bomkamp in New York

NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc said on Wednesday quarterly profit fell slightly even though revenue more than doubled on higher copper production and prices, sending its shares sharply lower.

Fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations slipped to $423 million, or $1.07 per share, from with $426 million, or $1.99 per share in the year-ago quarter, said Freeport, which operates mines in the United States, Peru, Chile and Indonesia.

Those earnings included net charges of $120 million, or 29 cents per share, related to Freeport-McMoRan's acquisition of rival Phelps Dodge last year.

Excluding those charges, the company's earned $1.36 per share, far short of the analysts' average forecast of $1.73 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose to $4.18 billion from $1.64 billion last year on higher average copper and gold prices and higher production from mines it acquired from Phelps Dodge.

Freeport's copper sales rose to 878 million pounds in the quarter at an average selling price of $3.16 per pound, compared with 432 million pounds sold in the year-ago quarter at $2.88.

Gold sales fell to 161,000 ounces at $803 per ounce from 508,000 ounces at $628 per ounce a year ago.

In October, the company said it had hit low-grade ores at its vast Grasberg mine in Indonesia and would sell approximately 8 percent less copper in the fourth quarter and 62 percent less gold, with corresponding higher mining costs.

Shares of the company fell 6.7 percent to $76.00 in pre-market trade. (Reporting by Matt Daily and Steve James, editing by Maureen Bavdek and Steve Orlofsky)