Freeport earned $984m as copper sold above $6 a pound and the Grasberg underground ramp held its schedule

Copper sold for $6.17 a pound. That is the average price Freeport-McMoRan realized in the second quarter, and it is the figure the rest of the results turn on, in a release the miner dated July 23.

Net income attributable to common stock was $984m, or $0.68 per share. Adjusted net income, which strips out one-time items, was $1.1bn, or $0.74 per share. Revenue of $7,029m fell from $7,582m a year earlier, and operating income of $2,003m fell from $2,432m, so a high metal price did not by itself lift the top line. The company sold 710 million pounds of copper and 123 thousand ounces of gold, at a realized gold price of $4,520 an ounce, and held average unit net cash costs to $1.97 per pound of copper.

Operating cash flow was $2.0bn. Kathleen Quirk, the president and chief executive, said the team delivered strong results supported by solid execution.

The forward story is volume, not price. Freeport said the ramp-up of its Grasberg Block Cave underground mine in Indonesia was progressing on schedule, and it flagged growth options including leach and technology work in the United States and a potential expansion at El Abra in Chile. The company expects to sell about 3.1 billion pounds of copper for the full year.