Research contextSee what supports this page, how current it is, and where comparable or historical context is available.
- Research date
- Sep 24, 2026Use the dated article and cited sources for the definition, examples, and stated limitations.
- Operating-model context
- 20 connected conceptsPart of the reviewed Mining Operating Economics; issuer definitions remain distinct where disclosed.
- Company examples
- 1 reviewed companyRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.
ore milled per day measures the average tonnes of ore processed through a mill each day during the reporting period.
Output bridge
Throughput is one physical input to recovered metal output. Freeport-McMoRan reported 407,900 metric tons per day of ore milled across its South America operations in 2025. Read it with feed grade and metallurgical recovery rather than as a stand-alone productivity score.
Investor caution
Higher throughput is not automatically better. Ore hardness, grade, recovery, maintenance, bottlenecks, and product mix can change the economic value of each tonne processed.
Primary source: Freeport-McMoRan 2025 Form 10-K.
Part of the Mining Operating Economics
Connect mine throughput, ore quality and recovery, copper production and sales, realized pricing, per-pound operating costs, and sustaining-cost concepts to understand mining economics without flattening issuer-specific definitions.
How the model fits together
- Throughput, grade, recovery, and output: Ore milled and leach ore placed show processing scale, while ore grade and metallurgical recovery explain how much contained metal becomes recoverable output. Copper production volume is the resulting reported output measure, but leach timing and mine sequencing prevent this from being a period-perfect accounting identity.
- Production, sales, and unit realization: Production shows recoverable output, sales show the pounds monetized in the period, average realized price shows consolidated pricing, and revenue per pound plus gross profit per pound show an issuer-specific unit revenue and margin view. Inventory timing and operating scope can separate these measures.
- Cash cost, accounting cost, and sustaining burden: Site production and delivery cost, by-product credits, and treatment charges bridge to issuer-defined unit net cash cost; DD&A and other noncash costs bridge toward total unit cost. Total cash cost, sustaining capital, AISC, and strip ratio add broader mining cost context, but gold-oriented and copper-oriented measures are not interchangeable standardized peer metrics.
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