April 23 (Reuters) - Copper miner Freeport-McMoRan ( FCX )

beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on

Tuesday, helped by higher production and easing costs.

The mining giant said its quarterly production of copper

rose to 1.1 billion pounds from 965 million pounds a year

earlier.

Freeport also benefited from strong prices of gold, which it

produces as a byproduct from its key Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

Average cash costs per pound of copper in the first quarter

were $1.51 per pound, lower than last year's $1.76 per pound.

On an adjusted basis, the Phoenix, Arizona-based company

earned 32 cents per share for the three months ended March 31,

compared with the average analyst estimate of 26 cents per

share, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini

Ganguli)