Freeport expects lower profits in 2nd quarter

Freeport expects lower profits in 2nd quarter

SYDNEY (Reuter): Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc said
yesterday that it expects its second quarter 1996 financial
results to be affected by lower copper prices.

The results would be affected despite excellent sales levels
of copper and gold and significantly improved total unit cash
production costs, equal to about US$0.15 a pound, Freeport said.

New Orleans-based Freeport said it expected to report lower
second quarter 1996 earnings per share compared with the $0.20 a
share reported in the second quarter of 1995.

Freeport said it expected to report a price of about $0.90 a
pound for essentially all of its second quarter copper sales.

Freeport is engaged in exploration, mining and milling of
copper, gold and silver in Irian Jaya, Indonesia and the smelting
and refining of copper concentrates in Spain.

Freeport said its operations continued to perform well, with
throughput exceeding 125,000 metric tones a day.

Expansion and exploration activities would not be affected by
recent developments in the copper market, Freeport said.

Copper prices tumbled in June in wake of the Sumitomo Corp
trading scandal as copper traders, fearful of a large tonnage of
metal being unleashed on the market, sought to sell out of the
copper positions.

The September COMEX copper contract closed at $0.91.40 cents a
pound on Tuesday.

The $0.90 a pound was based on sales of its copper
concentrates, which were provisionally priced at the time of
shipment, adjusted at the end of each month based on prevailing
prices, and then final priced under contract terms, the company
said

Additionally, copper sold in concentrate form in the first
quarter and not final priced at June 30 would also be re-priced
at $0.90 a pound.