Copper closed at $4.10 a pound in New York today, a record close, on news of Chinese imports of the metal.
Analysts have been talking about prices of $4.50 in 2011 and perhaps reaching $5 by 2013 due to surging global demand.
Phoenix-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold declared a 2 for 1 stock split and will give shareholders a special dividend of $1 per share, at a cost of about $471 million.
The company has been touted in recent months as a leading beneficiary of the global demand.