McMoran expects to post loss

McMoran expects to post loss

NEW ORLEANS, Mississippi (Reuters): Mining company Freeport- McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. on Wednesday said it expects to report a second-quarter loss of about $19 million or 12 cents a share due to lower-than-expected metal sales and a landslide cleanup in Indonesia.

According to First Call/Thomson Financial, consensus analysts' estimates called for a profit of one cent a share.

The company said it sold 256 million pounds of copper and 330,500 ounces of gold in the second quarter, below its estimates of 320 million pounds of copper and 410,000 ounces of gold.

Freeport-McMoran attributed the disappointing sales to delayed shipments and lower production.

Shares of Freeport-McMoran were unchanged at 9-3/8, near their 52-week low of 8-13/16.

Freeport-McMoran's fiscal 2000 sales estimate remains at about 1.4 billion pounds of copper and 1.9 million ounces of gold.

In 1999, Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. earned $136.5 million, or 61 cents a share, including a charge of $4.1 million, or 3 cents a share, on revenue of $1.89 billion.

The company plans to implement an overburden stockpile stabilization plan at its Wanagon stockpile.

The Indonesian government ordered Freeport McMoRan Copper to suspend dumping in the Wanagon basin after a May 4 landslide that caused the overflow of an adjoining water basin, which held potentially toxic materials, as reported May 15.

The stabilization plan will place 8 million metric tons of overburden on the Wanagon overburden stockpile during a 60-day period.

In that time, the company's Indonesian unit will submit a report to Indonesia's Department of Mines and Energy about its Wanagon basin plans.