Freeport-McMoRan 2Q Profit More than Doubles

Freeport-McMoRan said it expects sales to fall this year at its flagship Grasberg mine in Indonesia, in part because of an eight-day strike in July that temporarily halted operations. The company estimated the strike cut production by 35 million pounds of copper and 60,000 ounces of gold.

Freeport-McMoRan expects copper sales to be flat this year at 3.9 billion pounds. Gold sales should decline about 14 percent to 1.6 million ounces, and molybdenum will increase 15 percent to 77 million pounds. The company plans to more than double exploration spending to $250 million this year.

Freeport-McMoRan plans to increase production or restart operations at copper mines in Arizona and New Mexico. It plans to complete construction on a molybdenum mine in Climax, Colorado, next year and build production to 20 million pounds a year by 2013.

It also is continuing long-term development of its Indonesian mine and has other projects under consideration. Shares fell 59 cents to $55.35 in afternoon trading.