RG
Rick Gittleman
President · Falcon Copper Works
Senior VP Freeport Africa; senior management team Tenke Fungurume; senior management copper group, Glencore. A.B., J.D.
The Allied-Supply RationaleU.S. supply security
U.S. supply security
requires allied-nation
copper.
Even with maximum domestic exploration investment, U.S. mine production cannot alone meet the copper demand required by grid electrification, AI infrastructure, and defense systems. Allied international supply is not a supplement — it is a structural necessity.
The U.S. government has recognized this through bilateral critical-minerals agreements with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia — the two countries hosting the world's highest-grade copper operations outside of Chile and Peru.
Falcon Copper International operates within that bilateral framework, identifying and advancing tier-one copper projects that can supply the allied critical-minerals network the U.S. is building.
01
The African Copperbelt
The DRC and Zambia host the world's highest-grade copper deposits outside South America. The Copperbelt geology — particularly around the Tenke Fungurume and Kolwezi areas — represents a tier-one resource base operating under U.S. bilateral agreement frameworks.
02
The DRC/Zambia Framework
The U.S. has signed bilateral critical-minerals supply agreements with both the DRC and Zambia, creating a legal and commercial infrastructure for U.S. companies to advance copper projects that contribute to allied-nation supply chains.
03
The Operator Advantage
The Falcon International team built careers at Tenke Fungurume, Glencore Mutanda, and Freeport Africa — giving them operating relationships, geological knowledge, and infrastructure insight that no outside party can replicate.
Policy ContextThe bilateral framework
The bilateral framework
is in place.
“The U.S. has signed bilateral critical-minerals supply agreements with the DRC and Zambia — creating the policy architecture for allied copper supply that Falcon International is built to advance.”
$550B
U.S.–Japan Strategic
Investment Framework
Investment Framework
The Policy Reset
The September 2025 bilateral framework establishes the U.S. commitment to building allied copper supply chains — and sets the strategic priority for allied-nation copper project development.
DRC
Bilateral critical-minerals
agreement with the U.S.
agreement with the U.S.
The Copperbelt Agreement
The Democratic Republic of Congo hosts the African Copperbelt — the highest-grade copper geology in the world outside Chile and Peru. Falcon's team has operated there.
ZM
Zambia bilateral
agreement, critical minerals
agreement, critical minerals
The Southern Copperbelt
Zambia's Copperbelt extends south from the DRC, with Glencore and others operating tier-one assets. Falcon's Mutanda and Tenke pedigree gives the team direct entry.
International LeadershipThe Tenke and Mutanda
The Tenke and Mutanda
operating pedigree.
Falcon Copper International is led by Rick Gittleman, whose career at Freeport Africa and Glencore Copper gives him direct operating and legal relationships in the world's most productive copper geography.
Full leadership teamDirect operating credits
Tenke FungurumeGlencore MutandaFreeport Africa
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