Newcrest gold output up 2.6%

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Newcrest Mining has reported a 2.6% increase in gold production for the three months to March, as the Cadia operation, in New South Wales, delivered a full quarter of production.

Gold production increased to 636 521 oz in the quarter, from 620 691 oz delivered in the previous quarter, while copper production increased from 17 581 t in the previous quarter to 22 924 t in the March quarter.

“It was a quarter with a number of challenges, although it is pleasing to have increased our gold production and lowered our all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce in the quarter,” said Newcrest MD and CEO Sandeep Biswas.

“We increased the level of throughput at Cadia as planned, and Lihir continued its improvement journey with another lift in throughput rates.”

The Cadia operation delivered 203 512 oz of gold and 18 725 t of copper during the three months under review, while Lihir delivered 223 059 oz of gold from Papua New Guinea.

The Telfer mine, in Western Australia, delivered 109 668 oz of gold and 4 199 t of copper during the March quarter, while the Gosowong mine, in Indonesia, delivered another 38 865 oz of gold.

The Bonikro mine, in Cote d’Ivoire, delivered 32 440 oz of gold, while the Hidden Valley operations, also in Papua New Guinea, delivered 28 977 oz of gold.

AISC for the quarter fell from the $757/oz reported in the December quarter to $723/oz.

Looking ahead, Newcrest on Tuesday maintained its full-year production guidance of between 2.4-million and 2.6-million ounces of gold, while AISC have decreased from between $1.9-billion and $2.05-billion, to between $1.87-billion and $1.97-billion.

Capital expenditure was trimmed to a range of between $440-million and $540-million, from $480-million to $575-million previously.