Why 2017 Was a Year to Forget for Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) really started to get its business moving in the right direction in 2017. But it was still a year that the copper and gold miner, and its investors, would rather forget. Here's an update on the good things that happened, and the one big negative that's still hanging over Freeport's future.

In 2013, Freeport made a very expensive mistake by investing in the oil business during a mining industry downturn. Its debt load went from $3.5 billion to $20.4 billion in a single year. On the surface the idea sounded good, since adding oil to the portfolio would increase diversification. That storyline was backed by the fact that oil was holding up relatively well compared to copper and gold. When oil prices started to tumble just a few months after the company closed on a pair of oil acquisitions, however, the miner's problems began to mount because of the heavy debt load it was carrying on its balance sheet.

Freeport decided that oil wasn't the way to go, but then it got hit by another trouble. Image source: Getty Images.

Source: Fool.com