The company is still dealing with the problem of low-quality ore from the mine, which forced the company to significantly reduce its copper production outlook for the year.
In a sense the problem is the same as deciding which quality of ore to mine in the first place: we now need to either find richer sources to recycle from or arrange how we use these materials in the first place to facilitate recycling.
But if Freeport does not ramp up production quick enough to compensate for the lower quality of copper ore, it may end up producing only 1 billion pounds of copper each year during this period.
But in 2006, it embarked on a massive investment and construction project to build blast furnaces which use iron ore and coking coal to produce high-quality virgin steel for cars, ships and consumer durable goods.
Upstream producers such as Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), the world's largest producer of iron ore and pellets, are trying to get into the business of making quality steel.