Gold producer Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) on Thursday said quarterly profit nearly doubled as the gold price remained sky-high, but the results fell short of Wall Street expectations and the company's stock fell.

Despite higher bullion prices, Newmont sold less gold in the quarter than a year earlier. It said sales were likely to be lower in the third quarter than in the fourth.

Denver-based Newmont reported net income from continuing operations of $161 million, or 36 cents per share, for the second quarter, compared with $88 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $1.31 billion from $997 million.

Excluding one-time items, such as prepaid forward deliveries, Australian tax consolidation and litigation stemming from environmental issues in Indonesia, the company earned 44 cents per share, including stock options expense of 1 cent per share. Analysts' average forecast was 49 cents, according to Reuters Estimates, which excludes stock options expense.

Newmont spokesman Randy Engel said the company fell short of Wall Street forecasts because of "slightly lower sales and production levels and slightly higher costs."

J. Taylor, who publishes the industry newsletter Gold & Technology Stocks, suggested Wall Street may have expected too much from Newmont, as the price of gold surged over 40 percent in the first five months of the year, from $513 to $730 per ounce.

Gold has been driven higher by speculators and by investors seeking a safe haven at a time when the dollar is weak and violence is rocking the Middle East. The metal was trading at around $634 an ounce on Thursday in New York.

Peter Schiff, president of broker-dealer Euro Pacific Capital in Darien, Connecticut, said that although gold is selling high, it does not automatically translate into higher profits for gold miners because of the higher cost of mining.

"There may be some skepticism (on Wall Street). People were very bullish when gold went through $700 but threw in the towel when it fell back.

"(But) the chart looks very good for Newmont and I see more positive reaction (from Wall St) soon. Gold and silver look strong and the mining stocks have tracked well," said Schiff, who predicted gold would pass $800 in the near future.

"Then you'll see profits and dividends build up."

Consolidated gold sales were 1.87 million ounces. Of that total, 1.38 million ounces were "equity ounces" -- gold owned outright by Newmont -- and the rest was from joint operations in mines in Peru and Indonesia.

But those figures were down from a year earlier, when consolidated sales were 1.99 million ounces, with 1.54 million equity ounces.

The revenue figures were based on costs applicable to sales of $298 per ounce, and an average realized price of $605 per ounce, Newmont said.

The company expects to sell 5.9 million to 6.2 million equity ounces of gold this year at costs of $290 to $310 per ounce, and 225 million to 235 million equity pounds of copper at costs of 65 to 70 cents per pound.

Gold and copper sales are expected to be stronger in the fourth quarter than in the third, with sales dependent on the ramp-up at the company's Phoenix and Leeville mines in Nevada and Ahafo, Ghana.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Murdy noted that net income from continuing operations more than doubled in the first half as the price of gold jumped.

"We also achieved project milestones in Ghana and Nevada, with initial processing at our Ahafo and Phoenix (mining) operations," he said.

He also announced the third-quarter sale of Newmont's Black Gold oil sands property in Alberta, Canada, for $280 million.

Newmont stock was down $1.71 or 3.2 percent at $51.32 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.