RE:FCX Q4Molybdenum Mines.
FCX operates two wholly owned molybdenum mines in Colorado - the Henderson underground mine and the Climax open-pit mine. The Henderson and Climax mines produce high-purity molybdenum concentrate, which is typically further processed into value-added molybdenum chemical products. The majority of the molybdenum concentrate produced at the Henderson and Climax mines and at FCX's North America and South America copper mines is processed at FCX's conversion facilities. Operating and Development Activities. Production from the molybdenum mines totaled 7 million pounds of molybdenum in fourth-quarter 2021 and 5 million pounds of molybdenum in fourth-quarter 2020. FCX plans to increase mining rates at the Climax mine in 2022 to provide options to increase volumes in response to market demand for molybdenum. FCX's consolidated molybdenum sales and average realized prices, which include sales of molybdenum produced at the Molybdenum mines and at FCX's North America and South America copper mines are presented on page 3. Average unit net cash costs for the Molybdenum mines of $9.90 per pound of molybdenum in fourth-quarter 2021 were higher than average unit net cash costs of $9.23 per pound in fourth-quarter 2020, primarily reflecting increased costs associated with higher mining rates and higher maintenance and equipment costs. Based on current sales volume and cost estimates, average unit net cash costs for the Molybdenum mines are expected to approximate $12.50 per pound of molybdenum for the year 2022.