By Shawn Langlois
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. said Wednesday that higher prices for its core-metals products led to a 77% jump in third-quarter profit.

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan (FCX 81.01, +2.38, +3.03%) rose 2.3% to $80.41 in early trading and have now surged 146% in the past year.

The Phoenix-based mining giant posted a profit of $925 million, or $2.07 a share, up from $523 million, or $1.31 a share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue fell to $4.14 billion from $4.62 billion, even as gold prices reached record highs this month.

Analysts had expected earnings, on average, of $1.28 a share and revenue just shy of $4 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research.

Capital expenditures dropped to $244 million from $766 million, while operating income roughly doubled to $2.1 billion from $1.1 billion.

“Our third-quarter results reflect strong operating performance, high volumes from our Grasberg mine and improved commodity prices for our products — copper, gold and molybdenum,” the company said. “We are benefiting from improvements in our cost structure, particularly at our North America mines.”

Freeport-McMoRan also announced that it is reinstating an annual cash dividend on its common stock of 60 cents a share. The board would declare a quarterly dividend of 15 cents a share, with the initial dividend expected to be paid on Feb. 1, 2010.

“Our strong performance in 2009 has enabled our board to reinstate a cash dividend for our shareholders,” the company said.

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