Denver-based Newmont (NEM: NEM 25.90, -0.57, -2.1%) said net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell to $196 million, or 43 cents a share, from $397 million, or 88 cents, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings from ongoing operations were $177 million, or 39 cents a share, down from $331 million, or 73 cents, a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had predicted the company would turn in a profit of 42 cents a share from ongoing operations.

Third-quarter revenue fell to $1.39 billion from $1.62 billion, topping the $1.37 billion analysts were looking for.

Newmont sold 1.28 million ounces of gold at an average cost of $480 an ounce and a realized price of $865 an ounce, boosting revenue by 22% to $1.3 billion from a year ago.

Copper sales fell 84% to $90 million, with most of the decline seen at its Indonesian mining operations. Demand for copper, used extensively for electrical wiring and pipe, has tapered off as a result of the U.S.-led decline in homebuilding.

At the same time, gold futures have retreated from a high of just over $1,000 an ounce earlier this year. Gold is now trading at about $758 on the Comex in New York, brought lower by the bursting commodity bubble and a recent rebound in the strength of the U.S. dollar against other currencies.

Newmont stuck by its initial 2008 gold sales estimate of 5.1 to 5.4 million ounces at a cost applicable to sales of $425 to $450 an ounce.

Newmont shares fell 57 cents, or 2%, to close at $25.90. The stock is off 45% over the past 12 months.