Five days after Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. discontinued the jobs of 402 workers at the Morenci mine and 59 at the Dos Pobres mine near Safford, the company has not specified other cost-cutting measures.

In response to questions Nov. 20 from the Courier about the future of the planned sulfur burner at the Safford mine or other possible cost-cutting measures, Freeport spokesman Richard Peterson directed a reporter to the third page of the company’s third-quarter report released Oct. 21.

“Operating plans are being revised to target reductions in costs, defer or eliminate capital projects, defer exploration expenditures and potentially curtail production at high-cost operations,” the report states. According to the document, Freeport alludes to dramatic weakening in “economic conditions” in recent weeks and “significant uncertainty about the near-term price outlook” for the mining company’s products.

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