US copper miner Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) announced Tuesday the appointment of Kathleen Quirk as president and chief executive officer, effective at the annual meeting of shareholders on June 11 this year.
Quirk will assume full responsibility for executive management of the business, reporting to the FCX board of directors, while Richard Adkerson will remain as chairman, supporting the leadership transition, the company said.
The Freeport board has been looking to identify a successor to Adkerson, who has held the top spot since 2003 and was last year inducted into National Mining Hall of Fame.
Quirk joined Freeport in 1989 and had responsibility in a range of corporate functions, including tax, investor relations, corporate development and treasury, before being named chief financial officer in 2003. She was named president of FCX in 2021 and became a member of the board in 2023. Quirk is a graduate of Louisiana State University.
“Kathleen has earned the respect of the board, the Freeport organization and external stakeholders through her track record of accomplishment, proven leadership and mission for value creation for all stakeholders,” Dusty McCoy, lead independent director of the board, said in the statement.
“Through her 35‐year career with the company, she has broad knowledge of Freeport’s business and operations, its people and culture, and is highly qualified to lead Freeport as CEO,” McCoy added.
“Serving as CEO of Freeport for over 20 years has been an honor,” Adkerson stated. “I value my strong bond with our stakeholders – our employees, investors, industry executives, community partners and government officials – all of whom are critical to the success of our company and our industry.”
