Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm To The Stockholders and Board of Directors of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc.: We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets  of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and its subsidiaries as  of December 31, 2004 and 2003, and the related consoli- dated statements of income, cash flows and stockholders’  equity for each of the three years in the period ended  December 31, 2004. These consolidated financial statements  are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our  responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated  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 consolidated financial statements  referred to above present fairly, in all material respects,  the consolidated financial position of Freeport-McMoRan  Copper & Gold Inc. and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2004  and 2003, and the consolidated results of their operations  and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period  ended December 31, 2004 in conformity with U.S. generally  accepted accounting principles. As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial state- ments, effective January 1, 2003, the Company adopted  Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 143,  “Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations,” and effective  July 1, 2003, the Company adopted Statement of Financial  Accounting Standards No. 150, “Accounting for Certain  Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities  and Equity.” As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated  financial statements, effective January 1, 2002, the Company  changed its method of computing depreciation for PT  Freeport Indonesia’s mining and milling life-of-mine assets. We also have audited, in accordance with the standards  of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United  States), the effectiveness of Freeport-McMoRan Copper &  Gold Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of  December 31, 2004, based on criteria established in Internal  Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of  Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and  our report dated March 9, 2005 expressed an unqualified  opinion thereon. New Orleans, Louisiana March 9, 2005 Ernst & Young LLP 2004 ANNUAL REPORT  | 47