LITERATURE REVIEW — NEWS ROUNDUP — Red metal keeps Asarco in black

New York-based Asarco (AR-N) reported net earnings of US$24.3 million for the fourth quarter of 1996, compared with a net loss of US$11.3 in the same period of the previous year.

For the full year, the diversified company reported net income of US$138.3 million, compared with net earnings of US$169.2 million in 1995. Results for 1996 included an after-tax gain of US$39 million from the sale of the company’s interest in MIM Holdings, an Australian mining company, and a US$7.2-million after-tax gain on the sale of a 25% interest in the Silver Bell copper mine.

Asarco says its beneficial mined copper production reached record levels in 1996 as production grew by more than 13% over the previous year. For the first time, the company’s beneficial interest in annual consolidated copper production exceeded 1 billion lb.