FCX: Good press releases, seriously bad company logosThis link to the FCX press release this morning is pretty much required reading for anyone concerned with mining. There are far too many points to list here, so just go read it yourself if you haven't already. Basically it says "we're cutting back".
Re: the FCX LatAm operations, the biggest chunk of news is the (not very unexpected) decision to defer the El Abra sulphide copper project and save on the capex. Also notable was a little line about the producing mines down here (Cerro Verde, Candelaria, Ojos del Salado, el Abra et al) that says the company will prove up more reserves than it mines. Overall copper production will be 1.4MMT in South American operations compared to 1.5MMT in 2008.
Final thought: This is a good PR. I've made mention of a couple of things to look for when reading bad PRS recently, but when this kind of information dispersal is done right they're very useful things. This PR is one of the good ones. Mining IR depts please take note; this is the kind of disclosure that analysts appreciate and want to see all the time. It scores you great bonus points with the parasite community that we are.
Re: the FCX LatAm operations, the biggest chunk of news is the (not very unexpected) decision to defer the El Abra sulphide copper project and save on the capex. Also notable was a little line about the producing mines down here (Cerro Verde, Candelaria, Ojos del Salado, el Abra et al) that says the company will prove up more reserves than it mines. Overall copper production will be 1.4MMT in South American operations compared to 1.5MMT in 2008.
Final thought: This is a good PR. I've made mention of a couple of things to look for when reading bad PRS recently, but when this kind of information dispersal is done right they're very useful things. This PR is one of the good ones. Mining IR depts please take note; this is the kind of disclosure that analysts appreciate and want to see all the time. It scores you great bonus points with the parasite community that we are.