The Copper Club will honour Richard C. Adkerson, President, CEO and member of the board of directors of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold on June 3 with the Ankh Award, naming him Copper Man of the Year. The award will be presented at The Copper Club’s annual dinner, in New York City. The club is the leading organisation for networking, educational grants and events for members of the copper mining community. The award has been bestowed ever y year since 1962 to a professional who has positively impacted the copper community.

The Copper Club will also announce the 2009 recipients of its Educational Grants Program, which assists exceptional students in preparing for careers in fields related to maintenance and the expansion of the copper sector. Each grant is $10,000 and is awarded to students who demonstrate academic excellence and financial need.

Copper Club Chairman Arthur Miele said Adkerson was unanimously chosen to receive the man of the year award because of “the exemplary leadership he has provided Freeport-McMoRan and the outstanding level of service he has rendered to our industry, both nationally and internationally.”

Adkerson joined Freeport-McMoRan in 1989 shortly after discovery of the Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia (to be featured in a series of articles in International Mining over the coming months), and helped manage its development into the world’s largest single reserve of both copper and gold.