Newcrest Mining’s (NCM) gold output fell in the June hit by a shutdown at its Indonesian mines, but it’s still managed to meet its full-year target.
Australia’s largest gold miner produced 598,037 ounces of gold in the three months to June 30, down more than 6% from the March quarter.
But its 2.44 million ounces output over the year was up 0.7% and at the lower end of its 2.4-2.6 million ounces production guidance.
Newcrest said the full-year numbers reflected a solid performance considering the challenges it’s experienced at some of its sites, such as a mill failure at the huge Cadia mine in NSW late last year that was successfully overcome.
Gold production was lower in the June quarter principally due to the extended suspension of production at Gosowong in Indonesia, following the previously announced geotechnical event in February 2016 and lower grade ore processed at Cadia.
This was partially offset by a strong result at Lihir in Papua Guinea which has been something of a running sore for years.
But it reported a record quarterly gold production result under its ownership of Newcrest of 246,000 ounces and more than 900,000 for the year to June.
The ramp up of the Cadia East operation progressed in the June quarter and the mine substantially replaced the ore volumes previously sourced from the Ridgeway mine that is now on care and maintenance.
The Prefeasibility Study on the pathway to increasing processing capacity at Cadia to 32 million tonnes and an update will be given with the annual financial results on June 15.
Newcrest Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sandeep Biswas, said: “We have delivered a solid performance considering the challenges we have experienced at some sites.”
"The 27% reduction in net debt reflects our focus on cash generation. We look forward to safely building upon this performance with the continued ramp up of Cadia East and our ongoing operational improvement at Lihir,” he said.
Newcrest said it reduced its all-in sustaining costs for 2015-16 to $US762 per ounce, down 2.3% from $US780 in the previous year.
Despite the jump in gold prices during the last quarter, its average realised gold price for the year was $US1,166 per ounce, down from $US1,221 in the prior year.
The shares rose 2.6% to $23.41.
