Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Constructs Water Treatment Plant

In a ceremony attended by President Ollanta Humala of Peru, the city of Arequipa celebrated the opening of a new water treatment plant that will provide the community 24-hour access to potable water. The project was financed by Cerro Verde, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold.

The La Tomilla II plant initially will benefit 300,000 residents, some of whom previously only had access to potable water for one or two hours a day. The plant will ultimately serve the majority of the Arequipa population of about 1 million people.

Once the plant is expanded to its full capacity, Arequipa will be the only city in Peru to have nearly 100 percent of its population provided with potable water 24 hours a day.

La Tomilla uses a tunnel system based on gravity to draw and carry water 11 kilometers from the river to the water treatment facility, where it is processed and made ready for reuse.

For further information about how Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. manages water usage, please visit their website at http://www.fcx.com/envir/envir_water.htm

Please see the 2011 Working Toward Sustainable Development Report for more information on all of their social, economic and environmental efforts. http://www.fcx.com/envir/wtsd/pdf-wtsd/2011/WTSD_Bk_2011.pdf