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## Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting 

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s (the Company’s) management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the Company’s principal executive and principal financial officers and effected by the Company’s Board of Directors, manage- ment and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that: 

• Pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the Company’s assets; 

• Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expendi- tures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and 

• Provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or dispo- sition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. 

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. The Company’s internal control system was designed to provide reasonable assurance to the Company’s management and Board of Directors regarding the preparation and fair presentation of its published financial statements. 

Our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of the fiscal year covered by this annual report on Form 10-K. In making this assessment, our management used the criteria set forth in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on our management’s assess- ment, management believes that, as of December 31, 2004, our Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective based on the COSO criteria. 

Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has issued their attestation report on our management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004, as stated in their report dated March 9, 2005, which is included herein. 

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