SEC Form 4

FORM 4		UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.5
	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* ADKERSON RICHARD C (Last) (First) (Middle) 333 NORTH CENTRAL AVENUE (Street) PHOENIX AZ 85004 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol FREEPORT MCMORAN COPPER & GOLD INC [ FCX ]	5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) X Director 10% Owner X Officer (give title below) Other (specify below) President and CEO
	3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 02/15/2012
	4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
Common Stock	02/15/2012		F(1)		39,554	D	$42.96	1,284,683	D
Common Stock								20,330	I	By IRA
Common Stock								415,844	I	Through Trust

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Explanation of Responses:

1. Shares withheld to cover taxes due upon the vesting of 100,033 Performance Based Restricted Stock Units, the grants of which were previously reported on Forms 4 filed February 4, 2010 and February 10, 2011.

Remarks:

Following the reported transaction, Mr. Adkerson's beneficial ownership includes 1,031,111 shares of Common Stock and 253,572 Performance Based Restricted Stock Units. He also holds options to acquire a total of 5,080,000 shares of Common Stock, 3,625,000 of which are vested and 1,455,000 of which are unvested.

	Kelly C. Simoneaux, on behalf of Richard C. Adkerson, pursuant to a power of attorney	02/17/2012
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
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