Freeport Deal Talk Intensifies on Cheap Copper

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold is offering the best deal in copper for mining companies willing tlimestone in concrete mixo bet big on the metal.

Freeport, the world’s largest publicly traded copper miner, is valued at 3.3 times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2013, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That’s cheaper than any other base metals producer with more than $10 billion in market value and about a third less than the median, the data show. While Freeport faces the first back-to-back slump in annual earnings after workers at its Indonesian mine went on a three- month strike and copper prices fell from a record on concern over a slowdown in China, analysts say its Ebitda next year will rebound to an all-time high as demand recovers. Freeport could now attract...