Freeport McMoran has reported net income attributable to common stock of $616m in Q2 2024, up from $473m in the previous quarter and $343m in the same period last year.
For the first six months of 2024, the company’s attributable net income was $1.09bn.
The US miner’s adjusted net income also rose, to $667m, during the three-month-period that ended on 30 June 2024, compared with $500m in the prior year.
Freeport generated revenues of $6.62bn in the quarter, a rise from $5.73bn in Q2 2023.
Operating cash flows for Q2 2024 stood at $2bn. Capital expenditure reached $1.1bn, of which $400m was allocated for major mining projects and $300m for PT Freeport Indonesia's new smelter and precious metals refinery.
The company anticipates operating cash flows of approximately $7.2bn for the year, based on current sales volumes and cost estimates.
Its consolidated production for the quarter included one billion pounds (blb) of copper, 443,000oz of gold and 20 million pounds (mlb) of molybdenum.
For the full year of 2024, Freeport forecasts consolidated sales of nearly 4.1blb of copper, 1.8 million ounces of gold and 82mlb of molybdenum.
This includes projections for Q3, which are expected to contribute 1blb of copper, 475,000oz of gold and 20mlb of molybdenum to the annual totals.
As of 30 June 2024, Freeport's consolidated debt stood at $9.4bn, with cash and cash equivalents totalling $5.3bn.
Freeport chairman of the board Richard Adkerson, and president and CEO Kathleen Quirk said: “Our global team remained focused during the quarter on strong execution of our operating plans, enhancing productivity and cost control, and initiatives to build and advance optionality in our organic growth portfolio.
"Copper pricing was strong in the second quarter. The long-term outlook for copper is supported by copper’s increasingly important role in the global economy and limited available supplies to meet growing demand.”
In a separate announcement, Reuters reported that Freeport McMoran is looking to spend around $7.5bn to increase production at its El Abra copper mine in Chile.
The news agency cited Quirk as saying that the expansion is set to take seven to eight years to develop owing to permitting norms.
This proposed expansion project, which involves a new concentrator plant, water pipelines and investments in desalinisation, is expected to result in production of 750mlb of copper and 9mlb of molybdenum each year.
Currently, Freeport holds a stake of 51% in the El Abra mine. The remaining stake is owned by Codelco.
