SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 20, 2000
FREEPORT-McMoRan COPPER & GOLD INC.
Delaware 1-9916 74-2480931
(State or other (Commission (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of File Number) Identification
incorporation or Number)
organization)
1615 Poydras Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (504) 582-4000
Item 5. Other Events.
On September 20, 2000, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
issued the following press release:
FREEPORT-McMoRan COPPER & GOLD INC. PROVIDES
UPDATE ON THIRD-QUARTER & SECOND-HALF 2000 OPERATIONS
NEW ORLEANS, LA, September 20, 2000 - In connection with an
investor conference in New York City today, Freeport-McMoRan
Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) provided an update on its
operations for the third quarter and second half of 2000.
Annual copper and gold sales volumes for FCX's Indonesian
mining unit, PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI), are expected to
approximate the previously reported estimates of 1.4 billion
pounds of copper and 1.9 million ounces of gold for 2000. PT-FI
expects copper sales for the third quarter of 2000 to approximate
its previous estimate of 380 million pounds and gold sales to be
slightly lower than its previous estimate of 460,000 ounces.
Mine operations during the quarter have begun to benefit
from higher equipment availability, increased utilization of the
stacker for overburden placement and improved haul road
conditions. Third-quarter mining rates are expected to average
approximately 700,000 metric tons of total material per day, an
improvement of 100,000 metric tons per day from the first half of
2000. Ore throughput is expected to average approximately
220,000 metric tons per day during the third quarter at average
grades of 1.05 percent copper and 0.88 grams of gold per metric
ton.
PT-FI's third-quarter production costs are expected to
benefit from these improvements in its mining operations;
however, rising energy costs and the mark-to-market financial
accounting impact of hedge contracts for PT-FI's Australian
dollar denominated operating costs are negatively impacting PT-
FI's operating costs. At current gold prices and currency
exchange rates, PT-FI expects its cash production costs,
including gold and silver credits, for 2000 to average
approximately $0.23 per pound.
All of FCX's revenues, including the revenues from its
smelter operations, are denominated in US dollars and certain of
FCX's operating costs are denominated in foreign currencies. As
previously reported, FCX's wholly owned subsidiary, Atlantic
Copper, maintains a program to hedge a portion of its projected
Spanish peseta/euro denominated operating costs. As a result of
the recent deterioration of the peseta/euro to US dollar exchange
rate, FCX expects its third quarter results to be negatively
affected by the decline in the market value of Atlantic Copper's
currency forward contracts. At June 30, 2000, Atlantic Copper
had contracts to purchase approximately 211 million euros at an
average exchange rate of US $1.04 per euro. These contracts
hedge approximately 75% of Atlantic Copper's projected
peseta/euro operating costs in the second half of 2000 and
approximately 60% of the projected peseta/euro costs in 2001
through 2003. The spot exchange rate used to determine the
market value of these contracts at June 30, 2000 was
approximately US $0.96 per euro. Each US $0.01 change in the
US$/euro exchange rate impacts the market value of these
contracts and FCX's net income by approximately $2.1 million.
Atlantic Copper also has peseta/euro denominated liabilities that
are translated at market exchange rates. A weaker euro has a
favorable impact on these liabilities. Each US $0.01 change in
the US$/euro exchange rate would impact the market value of these
liabilities by approximately $0.7 million, offsetting a portion
of the change in market value of the currency forward contracts.
Based on today's exchange rates (current spot rate of
approximately US $0.85 per euro), the impact of the hedge
contracts net of the effect on the liabilities would result in an
approximate $16 million charge to third-quarter net income.
FCX is engaged in mineral exploration and development,
mining and milling of copper, gold and silver in Indonesia, and
the smelting and refining of copper concentrates in Spain and
Indonesia. Additional information about FCX is available on our
Internet web site (www.fcx.com).
Cautionary Statement. This press release contains forward-
looking statements in which we discuss factors we believe may
affect our performance in the future. Forward-looking statements
are all statements other than historical facts, such as
statements regarding anticipated sales volumes, production rates,
ore grades, costs and the impact of changes in foreign currency
exchange rates. Important factors that might cause future
results to differ from these projections include industry risks,
commodity prices, Indonesian political risks and other factors
described in FCX's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed
on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
FREEPORT-McMoRan COPPER & GOLD INC.
By: \s\ C. Donald Whitmire
----------------------------
C. Donald Whitmire
Controller - Financial Reporting
(authorized signatory and
Principal Accounting Officer)
Date: September 20, 2000
