Asarco reports a loss after special charges

An after-tax charge of US$122.1 million pushed Asarco (NYSE) into a loss position for the year ended Dec. 31, 1992.

The company reported a net loss for the year of US$83.1 million, or about US$2.01 per share, on revenues of about US$1.9 billion.

The after-tax charge includes US$56 million to account for post-retirement benefits, a US$44-million charge for environmental costs and a US$21.1-million charge for the reduction in carrying value of certain facilities.

The loss for the fourth quarter totalled US$58 million, after taking into account special charges of US$66.7 million during the quarter. Excluding special charges, the company would have reported earnings of US$39.1 million, or US95 cents per share, for the year and US$8.7 million, or US21 cents per share, in the fourth quarter.

This compares with earnings of US$46 million, or US$1.12 per share, in 1991 and net earnings of US$12.3 million, or US30 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 1991.

Richard Osborne, president, stated that operations at the company’s Mission complex in Arizona continue to improve from the effects of the hard ores and lower grades that the mine has experienced since the beginning of 1992. Osborne added that operations at the expanded Ray complex, 100 miles north of Mission, have also improved since the startup of a new concentrator last year. Capacity at Ray is now 180,000 tons of copper per year, although production for the first quarter of 1993 will be depressed as a result of heavy rains. The Ray complex received eight inches of rain in December and a further 14 inches in the first three weeks of January, severely hampering operations. Normal annual rainfall at the mine is about 17.5 inches.

The rains knocked out rail service between the mine and the mill at Hayden, about 20 miles away, forcing the company to shut down milling operations at Hayden on Jan. 20.

The Ray complex normally mills about 60,000 tons of sulphide ore per day: 30,000 tons at the new mill adjacent to the Ray mine site, and the other 30,000 tons per day at the mill adjacent to the Hayden concentrator. The company expects to resume full operations in mid-February when rail service is restored.

The rains also adversely affected leaching operations and, as a result, the company expects production at Ray to be reduced by about 10,000 tons of copper for the first quarter.

Operations at the Mission mine to the south were not seriously affected, with only 2.8 inches of rain in December and 3.5 inches in the first three weeks of January.