(Updated to include more detail on regional sales total and financial results)
Winter Park, Florida 26/01/2016 - Freeport-McMoRan's fourth-quarter copper sales of 1.15 billion pounds were up 18 percent year-on-year and in line with estimates, the company said on Tuesday.
The increase primarily reflects higher volumes from North America and the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, it said on Tuesday.
Fourth-quarter 2015 consolidated gold sales of 338,000 ounces were higher than the October 2015 estimate of 310,000 ounces, but were lower than fourth-quarter 2014 sales of 377,000 ounces, primarily reflecting lower ore grades at PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI).
Fourth-quarter 2015 consolidated molybdenum sales of 20 million pounds were slightly lower than the October 2015 estimate and fourth-quarter 2014 sales of 21 million pounds, it added.
Freeport expects consolidated sales for 2016 of around 5.1 billion pounds of copper, 1.8 million ounces of gold and 73 million pounds of molybdenum, including 1.1 billion pounds of copper, 200,000 ounces of gold and 19 million pounds of molybdenum in the first quarter.
"Anticipated higher grades from Grasberg in the second half of 2016 are expected to result in approximately 55 percent of consolidated copper sales and 75 percent of consolidated gold sales to occur in the second half of the year," the company said.
Freeport recorded a net loss attributable to common stock of $4.1 billion ($3.47 per share) for the fourth quarter, which was slightly less than expected. For the full year, it lost $12.2 billion ($11.31 per share).
Revenue for the quarter of $3.8 billion was down from $5.2 billion a year previously and below the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion.
The company's stock price was up 8.12 percent at $4.26 in pre-market trade.
NORTH AMERICA SALES
The company's North American consolidated fourth-quarter copper sales volumes of 547 million pounds were higher than sales of 434 million pounds in the fourth quarter of 2014, primarily reflecting higher ore grades at Morenci and Safford and the timing of shipments.
The company operates seven open-pit copper mines in North America - Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico.
North America copper sales will be around 1.8 billion pounds for 2016 compared with 2.0 billion pounds in 2015.
Freeport has suspended mining operations at Miami (43 million pounds of copper in 2015), initiated a 50-percent reduction in mining rates at Tyrone (84 million pounds of copper) and plans to close Sierrita (189 million pounds of copper and 21 million pounds of molybdenum).
But it completed the Morenci mill expansion project, which will result in incremental annual production of approximately 225 million pounds of copper. Morenci's copper production is expected to average approximately 900 million pounds per year over the next five years.
SOUTH AMERICA
Freeport's South American consolidated copper sales volumes of 286 million pounds in the fourth quarter were higher than fourth-quarter 2014 sales of 247 million pounds, reflecting higher mining rates at Cerro Verde that were partly offset by lower mining rates at El Abra and the sale of the Candelaria/Ojos mines in November 2014.
The company operates two copper mines in South America - Cerro Verde in Peru, in which Freeport holds a 53.56-percent interest, and El Abra in Chile, in which it has 51 percent.
It expects sales from South America mining of around 1.3 billion pounds of copper for 2016 compared with 871 million pounds in 2015.
Freeport previously announced a reduction in mining and stacking rates of around 50 percent at El Abra, which produced 324 million pounds of copper in 2015.
INDONESIA SALES
Indonesia's fourth-quarter 2015 sales of 195 million pounds of copper were higher than fourth-quarter sales of 180 million pounds, reflecting higher operating rates. Gold sales of 330,000 tonnes were nine percent lower year-on-year due to lower ore grades.
Freeport owns a 90.64-percent share of one of the world's largest copper and gold deposits at the Grasberg minerals district in Papua, Indonesia.
"[We expect] ore grades to improve significantly beginning in the second half of 2016 with access to higher grade sections of the Grasberg open pit, resulting in higher production and lower unit net cash costs," the miner said.
It expects sales from Indonesia mining of around 1.5 billion pounds of copper and 1.8 million ounces of gold for 2016, with approximately 65 percent of copper sales and 75 percent of gold sales anticipated in the second half of the year.
Freeport's fourth-quarter copper sales from Africa totalled 117 million pounds, higher than fourth-quarter 2014 copper sales of 111 million pounds. This primarily reflects higher operating and recovery rates.
It expects African sales of around 495 million pounds of copper and 35 million pounds of cobalt for 2016 compared with 467 million pounds of copper and 35 million pounds of cobalt in 2015.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)