GPA photographer travels to a copper mine in the Congo

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold engages in the exploration, mining and production of mineral properties in North and South America and Africa. They wanted to capture the activities at their mines in the Congo.

The GPA photographer based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, met the Freeport team in Johannesburg for the trek to the Tenke Fungurume mine in the Congo.  Once there, our crew was briefed at the base camp and a shot list for the one-week shoot was developed.

Each morning, the photographer and a video crew departed at 5:00AM to reach the remote areas where the mining activity took place, driving along hot dusty roads. Working at these remote locations alongside a video crew presented unique challenges to our photographer and because of the distance between locations, it was essential to get it right the first time.

The grueling shoot schedule required 12 hour days, but the images GPA supplied to the client dramatically depict the breadth of Freeport McMoRan’s operations in this part of Africa.