Atticus Capital Owns 6 Million Shares (3%) of Freeport-McMoRan

Atticus Capital Owns 6 Million Shares (3%) of Freeport-McMoRan

January 15, 2007

Atticus Capital to Vote for Freeport-McMoRan's Acquisition
of Phelps Dodge


    NEW YORK, Jan. 15 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Atticus
Capital today sent the following letter to Richard C.
Adkerson, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, Inc. (NYSE: FCX):
 
    January 12, 2007

    Mr. Richard C. Adkerson
    President and CEO
    Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.,
    1615 Poydras Street
    New Orleans, LA  70112

    Dear Richard:

    We have greatly enjoyed our interactions and
discussions since you announced the transaction between
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.
("Freeport-McMoRan") and Phelps Dodge Corp.
("Phelps Dodge").     

    We are writing to inform you of the following:

    1.  We have today changed our Phelps Dodge ownership
reporting from a 13D 
        to a 13G, because we no longer intend to influence
the company.  In 
        the absence of a higher offer for Phelps Dodge, our
current intention 
        is to vote for the merger with Freeport-McMoRan.

    2.  Atticus Capital LP and its affiliates currently
beneficially own 
        approximately 6 million shares of Freeport-McMoRan,
representing 
        approximately 3% of outstanding shares.  We have
acquired this 
        position since the announcement of the Phelps Dodge
transaction.

    3.  Following the closing of this transaction, Atticus
currently expects 
        to be one of the largest shareholders of the
combined company, with 
        approximately a 6% stake.  

    We have a high regard for your company and management
team.  We also congratulate you on transforming
Freeport-McMoRan from a single-asset company into one of
the world's top five mining groups, with geographic
diversity and an unrivaled pipeline of growth assets.  

    We are very excited about being one of the largest
shareholders in the combined company, which will have an
attractive mix of assets. We believe that the combined
company will have significant opportunities to create value
for shareholders, including through the potential
monetization of assets, such as the gold income stream.  In
this regard, we have read with interest the Prudential
Equity Group's recent analyst report on the combined
company. 

    We look forward to participating in the future success
of Freeport-McMoRan.  

    Sincerely,


    Timothy R. Barakett                               
David Slager
    Chairman and CEO                                  
Vice-Chairman            


    About Atticus Capital LP

    Atticus Capital, LP, is a leading asset management
firm, with more than $13.5 billion of assets under
management.  Founded by Timothy Barakett in 1995, the firm
is headquartered in New York with an office in London. 
Atticus invests in global securities markets on behalf of
major institutions, endowments, pension funds, and private
investors.  Timothy Barakett, Chairman and CEO, and David
Slager, Vice Chairman, lead the firm's portfolio management
team.  Nathaniel Rothschild, Co-Chairman, and Matthew
Edmonds, President, also sit on the firm's management
committee.


    For more information, please contact:

     Andrew Merrill 
     Finsbury US
     ATe+1-212-303-7600 


SOURCE  Atticus Capital LP