Shares of copper producer Freeport-McMoRan fall as it announces another $1 billion stock sale

Freeport-McMoRan said that it may sell another $1 billion of its own shares after the copper producer completed a similar stock sale on Friday.

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. fell $1.20, or 10 percent, to $10.85 in afternoon trading Friday. News of a stock sale often weighs on company shares because it makes existing investors' stakes less valuable.

Freeport-McMoRan said it will use the money raised from the additional stock sale for general corporate uses, like paying off debt. The Phoenix company said it completed its previously announced sale of 96.7 million shares on Friday, raising $1 billion.

Due to weak copper prices and soft economic conditions, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. said in August it would cut 10 percent of workers at U.S. mining operations to save money.