Phelps Dodge
 | |
 Phelps Dodge Tower in downtown Phoenix. | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: PD | |
| Industry | Mining |
| Founded | 1834 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 2007 |
| Fate | Friendly takeover |
| Headquarters | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
Key people | J. Steven Whisler, Chairman & CEO |
| Products | Copper |
Number of employees | 15,000 (2006) |
Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American
On March 19, 2007, Freeport-McMoRan completed a $25.9 billion acquisition of Phelps Dodge Corporation.[2]
History
in 1821, Anson G. Phelps started a
Between 1917 and 1919, Phelps Dodge was involved in a union busting Bisbee Deportation of 1300 miners working in the mines around Bisbee, Arizona. Using World War I as the premise to take action, Phelps Dodge, in collusion with the local sheriff, illegally kidnapped and deported striking mine workers.[citation needed]
Expansion
When Anson G. Phelps died, his sons-in-law purchased his portion of the company, but retained the name, and the import-export business. In 1880, the company invested in the
The company focused largely on providing copper wire and cables to industry, products that were in high demand as the Industrial Revolution took hold. As the company diversified, it began investing in new railroads, essential in the company's efforts to keep costs as low as possible, especially in Arizona Territory. It used its own lines to transport products to and from major railroads for its markets on the eastern/northeastern shores.
In 1895, the first contract was signed by Phelps Dodge and Company and the Nichols Copper Company (which was renamed from G. H. Nichols and Company in 1891) to have Phelps Dodge deliver a minimum of 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) of blister copper over three years.[5] This economically symbiotic relationship lasted until 1922, in which Phelps Dodge provided 90% of the blister copper Nichols Copper Company used to produce 100% pure copper.[5] During the 1920s, Phelps Dodge invested $3.5 million in the Nichols Copper Company's plant modernization projects in exchange for stock in Nichols Copper Company.[5] This dramatically increased copper production of the plant.[5] In 1930, Dr. William Henry Nichols died; Phelps Dodge purchased the Laurel Hill plant that same year.[5]
During the late 19th century, in concert with its metal interests, Phelps Dodge Corporation became one of the largest producers of lumber and lumber products in the United States.
In
In 1908, with the Phelps Dodge owners no longer alive, the company was re-organized as a public company and the name changed to Phelps Dodge Corporation, a holding company for all of the various properties and operations. Dr. Douglas was its first president.
Labor relations
The company became notorious for its
The Phelps Dodge copper mine at
Subdivisions
In South America, the company had several very large copper mining operations in
A subsidiary of Phelps Dodge Corporation, Climax Molybdenum, is the largest primary producer of
In 1906, Phelps-Dodge acquired the Dawson Fuel Company of Dawson, New Mexico to mine coal for its copper smelting operations. Major accidents include the explosion at the Dawson Stag Canyon #2 mine which resulted in 264 deaths, and is one of the deadliest coal mining accidents in U.S. history.
The company employed more than 13,500 people worldwide.
Expansion and acquisition
On Sunday, November 19, 2006, Freeport-McMoRan announced that it planned to acquire Phelps Dodge for $25.9 billion in cash and stock to create the world's largest publicly traded copper mining company. Stockholders for both companies voted on the proposal March 14, 2007. On Monday, March 19, 2007, Phelps Dodge Corporation was acquired by Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX), creating the world's largest publicly traded copper company, with 25,000 employees at acquisition.
At the time of its acquisition in 2007, Phelps Dodge Corporation had large copper mining operations in
Environmental record
As of 2013, the Political Economy Research Institute identified Phelps Dodge as the 41st-largest corporate producer of Air pollution in the United States, with roughly 4.50 million pounds of toxins released annually into the air. Major pollutants included sulfuric acid, chromium compounds, lead compounds, and chlorine.[10] The Center for Public Integrity has reported that Phelps Dodge is named as a potentially responsible party in at least 13 Superfund toxic waste sites.[11]
Worker death
By June 1998, Reynaldo Delgado had worked for the Phelps Dodge
See also
Notes
- ^ "Phelps, Dodge & Co. records". Archives & Manuscripts. The New York Public Library. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
- ^ James, Steve. "Freeport acquires Phelps Dodge, launches offering". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ Cleland, Robert Glass (1952). A History of Phelps Dodge. New York: Alfred A Knofp. p. 12.
- ISBN 0-313-32395-X
- ^ a b c d e Anonymous. "Guide to the Phelps Dodge Corporation Laurel Plant Records 1893-1983" Control #P-13, Archives, Queens Borough Public Library
- ISBN 978-0-87026-115-2. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ISBN 0-8165-0741-4
- ISBN 0-205-24591-9
- ^ Rosenblum, Jonathan D. Copper Crucible: How the Arizona Miners' Strike of 1983 Recast Labor-Management Relations in America. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 1995.
- ^ Political Economy Research Institute Toxic 100 Air Polluters Archived 2015-11-18 at the Wayback Machine Aug. 2013
- ^ Center for Public Integrity Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ DELGADO v. PHELPS DODGE CHINO INC; Supreme Court of New Mexico; Decided 10/29/2001. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nm-supreme-court/1427111.html
References
- Cleland, Robert Glass (1952). A history of Phelps Dodge, 1834-1950. New York: Knopf.
- Schwantes, Carlos A. (2000). Vision & Enterprise: Exploring the History of Phelps Dodge Corporation. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 9780816519439.