Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Debuts Online Business Training Program for Women

Twenty women from the Copiapó Province in Chile inaugurated the test phase of a new online business academy for women in Chile and Peru. The academy was created through a partnership between Freeport-McMoRan and the Thunderbird School of Global Business Management.

The program is called DreamBuilder: The Women’s Business Creator. It is currently being piloted in communities surrounding the Company’s mining operations in South America; Cerro Verde in Peru, and Candelaria/ Ojos del Salado and El Abra in Chile.

DreamBuilder uses a Web-based format designed to accommodate low-speed internet connections to deliver a series of classes on how to start and grow a successful small business. The online delivery of the program allows women to complete the courses at their own pace, anytime, and anywhere they can access a computer. Freeport-McMoRan’s Candelaria/Ojos del Salado, El Abra and Cerro Verde operations have invested in making computer technology available at local schools, community centers and other locations that will support the program.

DreamBuilders consists of a core curriculum that covers a variety of business management skills, including market research, budgeting and accounting, and customer service.

For further information about how Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. supports the communities in which they operate, please visit their website at http://www.fcx.com/envir/soc_com.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