Kathleen Quirk, President & Chief Executive Officer at Freeport-McMoRan, speaks during the Reuters NEXT conference in New York City, U.S., December 4, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Copper giant Freeport-McMoRan would never say never for merger and acquisition opportunities, but the company is not counting on deals for growth, its chief executive said on Thursday.

"In the next five years in our U.S. business, we have the opportunity to grow by up to 50% through internal organic growth," Kathleen Quirk said, speaking at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York.

View the live broadcast of the Reuters NEXT World Stage here and read full coverage here.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder and Shariq Khan)