Duplicate WHAT WE DO MATTERS

After the loss of my father a few years back, one old country song really hits me every time I hear it – Brad Paisley’s “Last Time for Everything.” I always liked the song but now I listen to the words carefully, and I think about the choices that I make in my life. How we choose to spend our time, and more importantly, who we choose to spend our time with matters.

I have had the honor and the privilege of spending the last nine years of my life with you all. The men and women at the Tyrone and Chino mines are hardworking, dedicated, and capable of working through adversity. It was time well spent and time that I will never regret. Achieving 500 days without anyone getting injured at Tyrone is the highlight of my career.

There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you’re not concerned with who gets the credit. Stay focused on teamwork, New Mexico, and always remember that we are Two Mines, One Team! 

I’ll see you again soon.

Erich Bower

∎ ∎ ∎

When Erich Bower stepped down as the head of Tyrone, the decision did not come easy.

Although he had been approached about the role of General Manager of Strategic Workforce Development months before, Bower said he was not sure he had made the right choice until he saw his successor’s plan for Tyrone.

That plan came down to four familiar words: “Two Mines, One Team.”

In March, Randy Ellison was appointed the General Manager of New Mexico Operations. The official announcement also reorganized the reporting structure and expanded the responsibilities of Laura Phelps, Senior Manager-New Mexico Administration, and Kim Kindle, Controller-New Mexico Operations.

“Chino and Tyrone have always had each other’s backs when times get tough,” Phelps said. “This change helps us better manage the flow of information from two sites, allowing us to be more proactive in working together.”

If you combine their time with Freeport-McMoRan, the 14 employees who handle accounting for Chino and Tyrone have 174 years. For just the four longest-serving members – Tina Rodriguez, Ellen Paul, Kim Kindle and Rachel Killough – over 100 years!

According to Kindle, Controller-New Mexico Operations, this wealth of experience partially can be attributed to the homegrown nature of the workforce at Chino and Tyrone. Many of the employees come from the Mining District, Silver City or surrounding areas.

“We’re not a company town,” Kindle explained, “but a lot of our employees were born here, raised here, and started families of their own here. For them, this will always be home.”

Illustrative of that, Kindle also notes that 10 out of the 14 team members are graduates of Western New Mexico University—but their education does not stop there. Kindle and Glen Peterson, Accounting Manager-New Mexico Operations, always are on the lookout for ways to move people around to different roles, ensuring a well-rounded department.

“There is a lot of opportunity in the department, depending on what your career goals are,” Kindle said.

For her, this accumulated experience is incredibly valuable as Tyrone and Chino continue to develop as Two Mines, One Team. ∎ 

April was Global Volunteer Month at Freeport-McMoRan, and employees from New Mexico Operations once again showed up for the local community.

Earlier in the month, two dozen employees volunteered for Chino’s Adopt-A-Highway. Walking the length of Santa Rita Mine Road and sections up and down the neighboring highway, they collected over 20 bags of trash and a discarded playhouse.

The following week, Tyrone held their Adopt-A-Highway. Walking portions of the highway and Tyrone Mine Road and portions of the highway, over a dozen employees collected 13 bags of trash.

NMO typically hosts two Adopt-A-Highway cleanups each year, with the one in spring doubling as preparation for the Tour of the Gila, for which the sites also provide support. In this year’s race, NMO again turned out, with over 30 employees volunteering their time across multiple events, locations and days.

Eric Ortiz, Supervisor-Leaching Hydromet at Chino, is a year-round volunteer both at work and at home. For NMO, he has contributed to everything from last month’s Tour of the Gila to last year’s Copper Collaborative community cleanup, viewing it as a chance to support those that support us.

“At some point in our lives, we’ve all needed someone else’s help,” Ortiz said. “By being a part of a company that actually encourages you to give back, we can keep that tradition of helping alive and build stronger communities.”

For more opportunities to give back to the community, watch your email and other site-based communication channels for calls for volunteers. ∎ 

A sea of sticky notes washes over you anytime you enter the office of Tom Head, Land and Water Resource Analyst-Chino.

“I have a bad memory,” Head explained with a mischievous smile.

All evidence to the contrary, his recent retirement means not only the loss of nearly 30 years of experience with Freeport – to say nothing of his time with various other employers across the Southwest – but also an oral history of the Mining District that encompasses every headframe on the horizon and spans generations.

Head’s own family has been in the area for five generations. His great grandfather arrived in 1882, and made a living any way he could, including ranching, logging and, of course, mining. Working in various mining camps across New Mexico, Head’s family learned the rich history of the area by maintaining strong relationships with the people they encountered—a legacy kept alive by Head.

According to him, one of the things he loves and will miss the most is meeting people. And in his job, he says, one never runs out of opportunities to do just that. A geologist by trade, Head has worked above ground and below, doing everything from ore control to surveying, but moved into the role of Land and Water Resource Analyst in 2006. In that position, he handled leases, water rights, property acquisition, claims staking and even a degree of public relations.

After his retirement, those responsibilities will fall to Jack Barragan, Land and Water Resource Analyst-Chino. While Head is sure his successor is up for the challenge, he also hopes that Barragan learns sooner than he did that the job isn’t everything.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to know when to call it quits and just go live your life,” Head said.

Fitting words from a man about to take his own advice. ∎