Five years ago, Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) decided to diversify into oil and gas in a move that it thought would pay big dividends down the road. Unfortunately, that decision didn’t pay off as expected, because commodity prices plunged across the board. That downturn forced the company to shed several assets in recent years to stay afloat, including unloading most of its energy assets for a fraction of their purchase price.