FCX vs FAST Comparison

Freeport-McMoRan owns stakes in 10 copper mines, led by its 49% ownership of the Grasberg copper and gold operations in Indonesia, 55% of the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, and 72% of Morenci in Arizona. It sold around 1.2 million metric tons of copper (its share) in 2024, making it the one of the world's largest copper miners by volume. It also sold about 900,000 ounces of gold, mostly from Grasberg, and 70 million pounds of molybdenum. It had about 25 years of copper reserves at the end of December 2024. We expect it to sell similar amounts of copper midcycle in 2029, though we expect gold volumes to decline to about 700,000 ounces then due to falling production at Grasberg.

Fastenal began as an industrial retailer, expanding its product portfolio from nuts and bolts to cutting tools, safety equipment, and janitorial supplies. It transitioned into a distributor by building out a dense network of branches close to its business customers. Once a customer becomes large enough, Fastenal installs vending machines and its own personnel on-site. Today, these on-site locations exceed Fastenal's branch count and remain the firm's main focus for expansion. Fastenal acts as a one-stop outsourcing partner for its industrial customers, offering value-added services along with a wide breadth of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies.