Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s (FCX) on Wednesday raised its estimates for 2011 gold sales to 1.6 million ounces from the 1.4 million ounces it had projected last quarter.

The higher sales forecast comes as the Phoenix-based company has been able to access higher grade ore at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia more quickly than previously expected.

However, Freeport lowered its expected gold sales for 2012 to 1.2 million ounces, from previous guidance of 1.3 million ounces.

The world's second-largest copper producer after Chile's state-owned Codelco also tweaked its forecast sales of the red metal for this year to 3.9 billion pounds from 3.85 billion pounds it previously expected. It lowered its 2012 copper sales guidance to four billion pounds from 4.1 billion pounds.

It said it also expects to sell 73 million pounds of molybdenum in 2011, up from previous guidance of 70 million pounds.

-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires;

212-416-2139; matt.whittaker@dowjones.com
Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)
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