All MSHA-reportable accidents at Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc. operations in 2026. Fatalities appear first.
At the end of their shift an employee began descending the front boarding ladder. As employee was reaching the bottom step to get on the platform, they lost footing/overstepped the top rung for the breakaway ladder. This caused the employee to fall approximately 4.5 ft and land on their left elbow.
The employee was walking from the lower lunchroom. Upon reaching the top of the stairway, the employee missed a step, resulting in a twisting injury to the right knee and reported hearing a popping sound.
Employee was walking down the stairs attempting to remove something from EE's bag and missed the last step, causing EE to fall and injure EE's right elbow and left knee
Haul Truck 629 was loaded at a shovel and traveling uphill to a dump when smoke and flames were observed in the engine bay. The haul truck came to a stop the operator descended the haul truck.
The haul truck operator had completed dumping and was traveling back down the haul road. While driving, the operator struck a pothole at approximately 13 miles per hour. As a result of the impact, the operator reported experiencing lower back pain. Operator went restricted duty on 3/9/2026.
A Haul Truck was being loaded by a Shovel. During the third dipper, a boulder was at the top of the dipper leaning on the teeth. When the bottom of the dipper opened, the boulder did not fall through with the rest of the load. Instead, it rolled over the teeth, hit the driver side of the haul trucks canopy and fell to the ground. Operator went restricted duty on 3/12/2026.
A Morcon ops employee was washing off material behind the ball mills area when they took a break. Upon returning from the break they went to bend over to pick up the water hose to continue spraying down area when they felt a pain in their back.
Mill Diagnostic Mechanic missed a step on the floor grating. They stumbled and attempted to regain balance but fell forward, landing on right knee.
While employee was cleaning up debris in a 90 degree pipe. A rock dislodged and stuck employee on right hand.
A Mechanic was removing the propel shaft on a Shovel using a steel cable and a Dozer. While positioning the cable on the dozer's ripper, a mechanic placed a hand near the line. When the dozer moved forward, the cable shifted and caught their left hand between the cable and the ripper.
Employee suffered seizure causing EE to fall from standing to the ground. Fracture to the skull was sustained in the fall.
An employee was traveling in a van when the driver encountered a pothole on the haul road, resulting in a sudden jolt to the passengers.
Two employees had checked a belt and were walking on the lower level of the screen plant when a rock from the next level up fell over toe board striking one of the employees on top/right side of their head.
During a maintenance activity, a maintenance employee was replacing some dust collector ducting in the tunnel when they pinch their right index finger.
Employee was picking up parts for their task and one of the required parts the employee needed was a cylinder for the dust curtain on the drill. While lifting the cylinder, the employee stood upright and experienced a sharp pain on the left side of the body.
Tailings operator was walking up to west centerline when they stepped in mud and rolled left ankle.
An employee was traveling in a van when the driver encountered a pothole on the haul road, resulting in a sudden jolt to the passengers.
Employee was stepping out of van when they stepped onto uneven terrain and twisted their right ankle.
Operator was attempting to fill in a hole from where the shovel came out of. While pushing material, the operator claims that they came to a sudden stop causing them to be jarred forward. Operator went restricted duty on 3/11/2026.
The Shovel Operator walked the shovel back down off of the 3'-4' hard knob and the shovel jolted. This resulted in the operator experiencing neck pain.
An employee was traveling in a van when the driver encountered a pothole on the haul road, resulting in a sudden jolt to the passengers.
Employee was unloading a hose crimping machine and hit EE's left index finger on something and created a laceration.
The backup monitor fell from the mount and struck the haul truck operator on the left side of the head.
While walking through the mud, the employee's feet became stuck. During an attempt to free themselves, they felt a pop in their left knee.
A haul truck operator was traveling on a haul road when the equipment struck a pothole.
An employee reported pain in knee after bending down to collect samples in tailings.
A Crush and Convey employee rolled their right ankle while stepping off the crusher ring during maintenance.
An employee was operating a drill press in the maintenance shop when metal shavings became lodged in the equipment. The employee stopped the drill press and attempt to manually remove the obstruction, and a sharp metal shaving penetrated the glove and caused a laceration to the employee's left index finger. The employee received stitches for their injury.
Employee was rolling up mantos on a leach stockpile, when their right forearm became irritated by the raffinate solution. The employee wash off arm with 4 bottles of water and reported incident to supervisor. The employee was taken to clinic to be evaluated.
Employee was using an 8-foot steel bar at the P 9/10 chute to remove a slab (rock) at the bottom of the chute. As the employee was attempting to hit the slab, their left hand hit the bottom of the chute door and smashed their left pinky finger.
Morenci Mill Maintenance employee was in the belt shop attempting to cut some skirting for a belt job. As they began to cut using the Olfa knife, the knife slipped cutting into the A6 rated glove and HexArmor sleeve into the employees left thumb, side cutting the skin next to the nail.
Operator was mounting a Haul Truck and raising the boarding ladder. The operator's hand was on the boarding ladder switch when the handrail to the ladder pinched their finger between the switch and the handrail.
Mill Crusher Ops employee was making their rounds this morning checking all the unit screens at the Secondary Crusher, employee went to close the ""doghouse"" door and smashed their middle finger.
An operator was using a rock hook to unplug a chute. They were pulling up on a stuck rock when it broke loose which caused the tool to come up and make contact with the employee's central incisor #8 (front upper) tooth.
The employee had noticed red on the under part of their eyes 2/18/2026 at the end of their shift and over the next couple of days a rash appeared and on 3/4/2026 the employee reported the injury when coming back to work due to the condition not improving.
Offloading Ammonia Nitrate Solution, the hose was clogged. Employee closed the line to check the hose but there was still pressure in the line. When they unhooked the line the pressure sprayed solution hitting them in the face and entering eyes. They washed their eyes out well onsite but went to an eye doctor to be checked out and they prescribed antibiotic ointment
Employee sustained a laceration to right hand ring finger when it was cut by a burr on the inside of the drill pipe and received 5 sutures. Employee identified one of the burrs, but not the second. EE had Impact Cut 5 gloves on at the time of occurrence.
Water hose nozzle struck employee in chin, chipping 2 teeth, cracking 1 tooth and causing a laceration which required 3 stitches.
Employee was cleaning the Dc box for the ball mill when they felt something fall between their glasses. Employee felt like something got in their eye and started to flush them out.
The operator exited the cab and unintentionally inhaled turbo fumes when exiting haul truck.