PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Newcrest Mining has reported a 19% increase in gold production for the quarter ended December, while all-in sustaining costs (AISC) for the quarter fell by A$58/oz.

“Record production at Cadia and another sound performance from Lihir underpinned a strong start to the financial year, with a higher AISC margin than the same time last year despite lower gold and copper prices,” said Newcrest MD and CEO Sandeep Biswas.

Gold production for the December quarter reached 655 000 oz, while 27 000 t of copper was also produced, an 8% increase on the September quarter.

The Cadia operation, in New South Wales, delivered record quarterly and half-year production of 239 470 oz and 452 984 oz, respectively, as record volumes of ore was processed, at higher grades. Copper production from Cadia reached 22 838 t during the quarter and 43 893 t during the half-year ended December.

Gold production from the Telfer mine, in Western Australia, also increased by 3% during the quarter, to 109 049 oz, along with 4 009 t of copper, while half-year production reached 214 548 oz of gold and 7 877 t of copper.

The Lihir project, in Papua New Guinea, saw a 38% increase in gold production during the quarter, to 251 156 oz, while half-year production reached 433 224 oz. Newcrest noted that the production improvement at Lihir was driven by increased head grade, recovery and tonnes milled.

The Gosowong operation, in Indonesia, also contributed 55 175 oz of gold during the quarter, with half-year production reported at 102 444 oz.

“Our first half production performance establishes a great platform from which to deliver strong results for the remainder of the financial year,” Biswas said.

For the full 2019, Newcrest is predicting gold production to reach between 2.35-million and 2.6-million ounces, while copper production would reach between 100 000 t and 110 000 t.