UPDATE 1-Freeport-McMoRan cutting over 600 mine jobs in US
(Updates with company quotes, details, stock down)
By Steve James
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX.N) said on Tuesday it is cutting more than 600 jobs at its U.S. mining operations to lower costs at a time when copper and other metal prices have plummeted.
The cuts come a week after after the company, the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, said it was delaying restart of its Climax molybdenum mine in Colorado and cutting production by 25 percent at the Henderson molybdenum mine in the same state.
Freeport had also previously announced it would delay expansions at the Sierrita and Bagdad copper mines in Arizona and push back the restart of its Miami mine in the state, cutting about $370 million in planned capital costs.
Those moves had resulted in almost 150 additional layoffs -- 40 at Miami and 95 of the 940 workers at the Chino mine complex in New Mexico.
Most of the latest round of 633 layoffs -- 402 jobs -- will be at the 4,100-employee Morenci copper mine in Arizona, spokesman Eric Kinneberg told Reuters.
A further 66 jobs will be eliminated at Bagdad, 70 at Sierrita and 59 at Safford, all in Arizona; and 36 positions at the Tyrone mine in New Mexico, he said. All are copper mines.
"Most of these employees were recently hired, many in anticipation of expansions, which have been deferred," Kinneberg said.
Another Freeport spokesman, William Collier, said the cuts followed a review of all the company's copper mining operations to see where cost-savings could be made.
The price of copper has dropped around 60 percent since July and last week fell to a more than three-year low of $1.57 per pound. In New York on Tuesday the benchmark December copper contract HGZ8 was around $1.68.
Last month, Phoenix-based Freeport posted a sharp decline in third-quarter profit and said it would curtail planned mine expansions because of weaker metals prices and current economic conditions.
Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson told analysts at that time that Freeport was reviewing its capital expenditure budget and would limit investment in certain growth projects.
Adkerson said the company was analyzing costs of its various mine operations, not only in the southwest United States, but also in South America, Africa and Indonesia.
The company said it was seeking to defer some spending at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia, as well as El Abra in Chile and Cerro Verde in Peru.
Asked about its Tenke Fungurume copper/cobalt project in Democratic Congo, into which Freeport has already sunk $1 billion, Adkerson said it was still on track to begin production next year.
On Tuesday, spokesman Kinneberg said the company had not yet completed its review of overseas operations.
Freeport's shares were down 80 cents, or 3.5 percent at $22.34 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has declined more than 80 percent from a May peak of $127.23. (Reporting by Steve James, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman) (steve.james@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-6013; Reuters Messaging: steve.james.reuters.com@reuters.net))
