Freeport-McMoRan Copper expects lower Indonesia copper sales
Monday, June 5 2006 - 11:45 PM WIB
Freeport estimated second-quarter copper sales of 235 million pounds, compared with a prior estimate of 280 million pounds. Gold sales are expected to be in line at around 275,000 ounces, it said.
The company also said it would revise its mine plan in the third quarter, deferring some high-grade ore that had been set to be mined in 2007 and 2008 to later years.
The company said while the impact on annual sales could be significant, over the five-year period from 2006 to 2010 total metal sales volumes should be within 5 percent of previous projections.
"The shortfall for copper reflects operational effects associated with mining a relatively small section of ore in the '6 North' pushback with abnormally high clay content, which has adversely affected ore flow, mill recoveries and concentrate grades," Freeport said.
It said its Indonesian unit, PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has updated its mine plans to incorporate the limited presence of high clay ore in this section of the Grasberg open-pit mine, the world's largest.
It was taking steps to mitigate the adverse impact by blending ore from other sections of the mine, while initiatives are under way to develop mine plans that would enable PTFI to offset the shortfall in the balance of the year.
PTFI's share of sales was projected to approximate 1.3 billion pounds of copper and 1.7 million ounces of gold in 2006 and to average approximately 1.3 billion pounds of copper and 1.9 million ounces of gold over the five-year period from 2006-2010, the company said. (*)