Low copper and molybdenum prices, combined with bad weather at its U.S.
coal projects, caused Cyprus Amax Minerals (NYSE) to earn fewer profits in the recent first quarter than in the same period last year.
The company earned US$62 million (or 62 cents per share) during the period, compared with US$97 million (US$1 per share) in the year-ago period. Revenue fell to US$684 million from US$807 million.
The company’s copper prices fell to US$1.17 per lb., down US16 cents from a year ago, and earnings from molybdenum fell sharply as both sales and price dropped.
Low earnings from coal production were also attributable to a drop in price, as well as to bad weather in the eastern and midwestern U.S.
Looking ahead, construction of the Abra copper project in Chile, 51% held by Cyprus, remains ahead of schedule, and production is expected in late 1997.
At the Cerro Verde project in Peru, production is expected to top 105 million lb. copper by mid-year. A feasibility study on the nearby Cerro Negro oxide discovery is expected by the third quarter.
Cyprus hopes to increase overall copper production in 1997 to more than 1 billion lb.
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