STATE COURT DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE COMPLAINT AGAINST FREEPORT-McMoRan COPPER & GOLD INC.; Dismissal of Similar Case Against FCX in Federal Court Now Final.

Business Editors

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2000

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) (NYSE:FCX) announced today the decision of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana to dismiss with prejudice the third amended complaint filed against FCX on behalf of Yosepha Alomang, an Indonesian citizen.

Judge Michael G. Bagneris, the trial judge, ruled on March 21 that the plaintiff's petition failed to state a cause of action against FCX. The lawsuit, originally filed in 1996, had been amended three times previously, resulting in this ruling in which Judge Bagneris concluded that the plaintiff "cannot set forth facts" establishing liability for alleged torts in Indonesia. Judge Bagneris cited legal authority prohibiting "vain and useless" amendments and dismissed the lawsuit "with prejudice," meaning the plaintiff may not amend or refile the suit in the Civil District Court.

Paul S. Murphy, FCX Senior Vice President, said, "We have always been confident that this case would be dismissed because the claims have no basis in law or in fact. The plaintiff has failed repeatedly over four years to plead any facts under any theory of law to establish any wrongdoing by FCX."

In a very similar case filed in federal court in 1996 by the same attorney on behalf of Tom Beanal, another Indonesian citizen, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on November 29, 1999 affirmed the U.S. District Court's earlier dismissal with prejudice. Both suits made baseless environmental and human rights claims. The time to appeal the Fifth Circuit ruling has lapsed and the federal court case against FCX is now dismissed with finality.

In a strongly worded ruling not unlike Judge Bagneris' March 21 ruling in state court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said that the U.S. District Court provided the federal court plaintiff repeated opportunities to amend the complaint and provide sufficient underlying facts, but the plaintiff was unable to do so. "In other words, the plaintiff still had not furnished any facts to support the baseless accusations. That is because there are no facts to support those accusations," said Murphy.

Despite these baseless lawsuits, FCX and its mining affiliate, PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI), have maintained their efforts to fulfill their commitments to continuously improve their environmental management programs and their relationship with the local people of Irian Jaya (Papua). An independent environmental audit of PT-FI released in December 1999 "...found the Environmental Management System developed and implemented by PT-FI to be exemplary and a showcase for the mining industry." FCX has also proactively sought to protect and promote human rights in its areas of operations, adopting one of the most comprehensive Social and Human Rights policies in international business. In addition, late last year, Freeport named Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, a former Presiding Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands, to the post of Special Counsel to the Chairman for Human Rights. FCX has consistently and emphatically condemned human rights abuses. Moreover, when allegations arose of such abuses in its area of operations, FCX supported every legitimate investigation, none of which found any wrongdoing on the part of PT-FI or its personnel.

FCX is engaged in mineral exploration and development, mining and milling of copper, gold and silver in Irian Jaya (Papua), Indonesia and the smelting and refining of copper concentrates in Spain and Indonesia. Additional information about FCX is available on our web site (www.fcx.com).