Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. Updates Status of PT-FI Operations
01 November 2011 - 1:32PM
Business Wire
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) reported the
following update on the status of operations at PT Freeport
Indonesia’s Grasberg mining complex.
PT-FI continues to seek a mutually acceptable resolution to the
ongoing labor strike which commenced on September 15, 2011. The
Company is following the established Indonesian legal process,
including pursuit of a resolution through a labor court process,
while continuing to seek to negotiate with the union in good
faith.
PT-FI is operating the Grasberg open pit mine and the DOZ
underground mine at reduced rates using non-striking employees and
contractors. Since October 22, 2011, milling operations have been
temporarily suspended pending repairs to concentrate pipelines
damaged as a result of civil unrest which has occurred during the
course of the strike.
PT-FI has initiated repairs to the damaged pipelines but has not
been able to gain full access to the affected areas of the
pipelines because of road blockages by striking workers. PT-FI is
working with local authorities to restore access to the road and
the pipelines so that repairs can be completed and milling
operations restarted.
As previously reported on October 19, 2011, FCX’s fourth quarter
2011 sales estimates of 915 million pounds of copper and 305,000
ounces of gold included 185 million pounds of copper and 280,000
ounces of gold from PT-FI (average daily production from PT-FI of 2
million pounds of copper and 3,000 ounces of gold). These estimates
were based on PT-FI achieving fourth quarter mill throughput
averaging approximately 175,000 tonnes per day (approximately 75%
of normal rates). The quarter-to-date average through October 31,
2011, including the currently on-going suspension of milling and
concentrate delivery operations since October 22, 2011, has been
approximately 120,000 tonnes per day.
FCX will provide further updates on the status of operations and
revised estimates of fourth quarter production when access is
restored and repairs are completed.
FCX is a leading international mining company with headquarters
in Phoenix, Arizona. FCX operates large, long-lived, geographically
diverse assets with significant proven and probable reserves of
copper, gold and molybdenum. FCX has a dynamic portfolio of
operating, expansion and growth projects in the copper industry and
is the world's largest producer of molybdenum.
The company's portfolio of assets includes the Grasberg minerals
district, the world's largest copper and gold mine in terms of
recoverable reserves; significant mining operations in the
Americas, including the large-scale Morenci and Safford minerals
districts in North America and the Cerro Verde and El Abra
operations in South America; and the Tenke Fungurume minerals
district in the DRC. Additional information about FCX is available
on FCX's website at “www.fcx.com.”
Cautionary Statement. This press release contains
forward-looking statements in which FCX discusses its potential
future performance. Forward-looking statements are all statements
other than statements of historical facts, such as those statements
regarding projected ore grades and milling rates, projected
production and sales volumes, projected unit net cash costs,
projected operating cash flows, projected capital expenditures,
exploration efforts and results, mine production and development
plans, the impact of deferred intercompany profits on earnings,
liquidity, other financial commitments and tax rates, the impact of
copper, gold, molybdenum and cobalt price changes, potential
prepayments of debt, future dividend payments and potential share
purchases. The words “anticipates,” “may,” “can,” “plans,”
“believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “projects,” “intends,”
“likely,” “will,” “should,” “to be,” and any similar expressions
are intended to identify those assertions as forward-looking
statements.
FCX cautions readers that forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and its actual results may differ
materially from those anticipated, projected or assumed in the
forward-looking statements. Important factors that can cause FCX's
actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the
forward-looking statements include commodity prices, mine
sequencing, production rates, industry risks, regulatory changes,
political risks, the potential effects of violence in Indonesia,
the resolution of administrative disputes in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, weather- and climate-related risks, labor
relations, including the resolution of labor negotiations and
strikes in Indonesia and Peru, environmental risks, litigation
results, currency translation risks and other factors described in
more detail under the heading “Risk Factors” in FCX's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as updated by our
subsequent filings with the SEC.
Investors are cautioned that many of the assumptions on which
our forward-looking statements are based are likely to change after
our forward-looking statements are made, including for example
commodity prices, which we cannot control, and production volumes
and costs, some aspects of which we may or may not be able to
control. Further, we may make changes to our business plans that
could or will affect our results. We caution investors that we do
not intend to update our forward-looking statements notwithstanding
any changes in our assumptions, changes in our business plans, our
actual experience or other changes, and we undertake no obligation
to update any forward-looking statements more frequently than
quarterly.
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