Freeport-McMoRan 2008 Annual Report Download - page 63

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
2008 Annual Report FREEPORT-McMoRan COPPER & GOLD INC. 61
TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS OF
FREEPORT-McMoRan COPPER & GOLD INC.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets
of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. as of December 31,
2008 and 2007, and the related consolidated statements of
operations, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the
three years in the period ended December 31, 2008. These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s
management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
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 financial statements referred to above
present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated
financial position of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. at
December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the consolidated results of
its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in
the period ended December 31, 2008, in conformity with U.S.
generally accepted accounting principles.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial
statements, effective January 1, 2007, the Company adopted
FASB Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in
Income Taxes – an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109,”
and effective December 31, 2006, the Company adopted SFAS No.
158, “Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and
Other Postretirement Plans – an amendment of FASB Statements
No. 87, 88, 106 and 132R.”
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, based on criteria
established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by
the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission and our report dated February 18, 2009 expressed
an unqualified opinion thereon.
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
Phoenix, Arizona
February 18, 2009