Lower production at Lihir and Gosowong brings Newcrest down

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Newcrest Mining has reported a 5% drop in production during the September quarter, despite production at the Cadia operation, in New South Wales, resuming.

Newcrest said on Thursday that gold production during the September quarter was lower than the June quarter, as a result of lower production from the Lihir and Gosowong operations, in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia respectively.

Group gold production for the quarter reached 522 917 oz, compared with the 551 815 oz delivered in the June quarter, while copper production grew from 12 968 t to 16 681 t during the same period.

“During the September quarter, Cadia recommended production from both of Cadia East’s panel caves, and Panel Cave 2 recorded its highest quarterly ore production,” said Newcrest MD and CEO Sandeep Biswas.

“This resulted in Cadia significantly increasing production compared to the prior quarter. While gold production for the group was lower than the prior quarter, we conducted a number of major plant shutdowns across the group in the September quarter, and we expect gold production to increase over the coming quarters.”

The Cadia operation delivered 120 514 oz of gold and 12 196 t of copper during the quarter, while the Telfer mine, in Western Australia, delivered 94 112 oz of gold and 4 485 t of copper.

Lihir contributed 202 922 oz of gold, while Gosowong production accounted for 68 524 oz, and the Bonikro mine produced 36 846 oz.

Biswas said that the group's full-year production guidance remained unchanged, with gold production expected to be lower in the first half of the year, than in the second half, as the Cadia East ore production ramped up, and with fewer planned shutdown events scheduled at Lihir.

Gold production for the full year was estimated at between 2.4-million and 2.7-million ounces, while copper production was expected to reach between 80 000 t and 90 000 t.