Shares in copper miner Freeport-McMoran (NYSE: FCX) surged higher by 24.4% in March, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. You don't have to look too far for the reasons behind the move; the price of copper started the month at $3.84 per pound and ended at $4.04 per pound. Moreover, at the time of writing, it's even higher at $4.23.

On every quarterly earnings presentation, management publishes a chart outlining its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), and operating cash flow sensitivity to movements in the price of copper.

Management recently modeled the sensitivities based on its expected production volumes and costs for the average of 2025 and 2026. It expects a $430 million in EBITDA with every $0.10 move in the price of copper pound and a $340 million move in operating cash flow. As such, the $0.20 move in the price of copper (if replicated across the 2025/2026 time frame) implies an increase in EBITDA of $830 million.

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Source Fool.com