## To The Stockholders and Board of Directors of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc.: 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and its subsidiaries as of December 31, 2004 and 2003, and the related consoli- dated statements of income, cash flows and stockholders’ equity for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2004. These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. 

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. 

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2004 and 2003, and the consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2004 in conformity with U.S. generally 

accepted accounting principles. 

As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial state- ments, effective January 1, 2003, the Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 143, “Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations,” and effective July 1, 2003, the Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 150, “Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity.” As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, effective January 1, 2002, the Company changed its method of computing depreciation for PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining and milling life-of-mine assets. 

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2004, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated March 9, 2005 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon. 

## Ernst & Young LLP 

New Orleans, Louisiana March 9, 2005 

