Newcrest says annual gold output at flagship mine beat forecast

Newcrest’s Cadia Valley operation in New South Wales. (Image courtesy of Newcrest Mining.)

Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd said on Thursday annual production at its flagship Cadia gold mine beat the company’s forecasts, although group-wide quarterly output fell 5% due to unplanned downtime at its Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea.

Cadia in New South Wales reported a record throughput rate in the June quarter, taking quarterly gold production to 194,757 ounces and full-year output to 764,896 ounces. That surpassed the upper-end of its annual forecast range at 760,000 ounces.

The mine, however, will see costs rise and production of gold and copper fall over the next 19 weeks as Newcrest replaces a mill motor. Its Concentrator 1 will be operating at around 60% of normal capacity.

Australia’s biggest listed gold miner said total production fell to 542,332 ounces in the June quarter from 573,175 ounces a year ago. That, however, beat an RBC Capital Markets estimate of around 531,000 ounces.

Lihir is undergoing unplanned downtime in the autoclaves, while scheduled maintenance planned for the September quarter has also been brought forward

(By Soumyajit Saha and Nikhil Kurian Nainan; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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