Feb 17 (Reuters) - BHP Group ( BHP ) reported a

stronger-than-expected half-year underlying profit on Tuesday,

driven by copper, which for the first time surpassed iron ore to

contribute more ​than half of the miner's earnings.

The world's ‌largest listed miner reported first-half

underlying attributable profit of $6.20 billion, up 22% from a

year ⁠earlier and ahead of the Visible Alpha consensus of $6.03

billion.

BHP declared ⁠an interim dividend of 73 cents per ‌share, also

ahead of ‌the market estimates of 63 cents, and representing a

payout ratio of 60%.

Copper, including ​byproducts, contributed $7.95 billion to

BHP's operating ‌earnings in the six months ending December 31, a

shade higher than iron ore's $7.50 billion, and making up ​51% of

the group's total underlying ​operating ‌earnings of $15.46

billion.

That was largely driven by a 32% jump in realised prices for

copper. A record first-half iron ore production ⁠alongside higher

prices also boosted the miner's profits to be ⁠the highest in

three years.

BHP produced a record 146.6 million metric tons of iron ore

from its Western Australia operations on a 100% basis, and

received 4% higher prices for its commodity. However, ⁠it ‌flagged

a 7% growth in its unit costs, driven ‌largely by record output.

Separately, the miner also announced a silver ⁠streaming

agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals ( WPM ) for an upfront

payment of $4.3 billion at completion, to deliver silver from

its share of output at Peru's Antamina mine.

In December last year, BHP said BlackRock ( BLK )-owned

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) would invest $2 billion in

Western Australia Iron Ore's (WAIO) inland power network for a

minority stake.

"Together, ​these agreements will unlock over $6 billion of

cash. We see the potential to unlock up to a total of $10

billion," CEO Mike Henry ​said.