Freeport Receives Final Approval for Federal Clean Energy Grant

January 13, 2025 - Freeport has received final approval of an $80 million federal grant that will help the company tap clean geothermal heat to increase copper production at its Arizona sites in Morenci and Safford and upgrade its existing electrical grid in the region.

The announcement in December signals the formal approval by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations that Freeport has completed the negotiations and cleared the administrative hurdles needed to finalize the grant. The company’s eligibility for the award was announced in March.

Funds from the grant will partially finance the two-pronged MILESHIGH Project. The total cost is estimated to be about $175 million, with Freeport paying the balance, said Johnny Key, Director-Energy and Power Management.

One element, called MILES, will modernize the existing power grid while adding a utility-scale battery energy storage system at Morenci to increase energy resilience and reliability for the mine and surrounding community.

The second component, designated HIGH, will demonstrate the viability of direct use of naturally occurring geothermal heat to enable low-emission extraction of copper from previously mined material at Morenci and Safford, part of Freeport’s leaching efforts.

The MILESHIGH project is aimed at reducing the company’s reliance on fossil fuels to power backup generators and eliminate the need to add new natural gas-fired sources of heat, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy and climate resilience of local communities, according to the award announcement.

The new infrastructure will not look much different than what is already at the mines, Key said. The geothermal pumping stations look much like regular water pumping stations. The electrical system upgrades involve replacing old equipment with new equipment.

While the DOE grant is important, the MILESHIGH project is something the company would be pursuing even absent the federal money, Key said.

“We are doing this for real business reasons,” Key said. “The $80 million is great to help de-risk some of these innovative technologies to our mines. But at the same rate, we think that these innovations are key to our success in the future as operating as a company.”

Photo: Equipment used in the MILESHIGH project will not look much different than what already exists on the Morenci and Safford mine sites. In this photo, a temperature gradient well is being drilled at a project in Nevada by Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals, which is working in collaboration with Freeport on the development of geothermal resources for innovative leaching projects in the area.