Newmont Mining 3Q profit more than doubles

DENVER (AP) - Newmont Mining Corp. said Thursday that its profit more than doubled in the third quarter as the gold producer capitalized on favorable commodity prices and strong gold and copper sales.

Newmont's profit climbed to $388 million, or 79 cents per share, compared with $191 million, or 42 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 jumped 50 percent to $2.05 billion from $1.37 billion, with copper sales more than quadrupling and gold sales rising steadily.

President and CEO Richard O'Brien said in a statement that the company's effort to control costs resulted in a 13 percent decline in costs applicable to sales of gold per ounce. Gold operating margin rose 41 percent to $560 per ounce.

The results easily beat the estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who forecast earnings of 55 cents per share on revenue of $1.72 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.