PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold major Newcrest Mining has hit its full year production target, with the company reporting a 7% increase in production in the June quarter, compared with the previous period.

Gold production in the full year reached 2.17-million ounces, which was slightly below the 2.48-million ounces produced in the previous financial year, while copper production increased from 105 867 t to 137 623 t in the same period.

During the quarter ended June, Newcrest produced 573 175 oz, up from the 535 192 oz produced in the March quarter, while copper production increased from 34 958 t to 40 196 t as the Cadia operation, in New South Wales reported record annualised mined ore and mill throughput for the quarter.

Cadia produced 236 705 oz of gold in the quarter, up from the 195 181 oz in the previous quarter, along with 27 634 t of copper, up from the 22 986 t delivered in the March quarter.

The Lihir operation, in Papua New Guinea, contributed 207 233 oz of gold during the quarter, up from 187 245 in the March quarter, while gold production at Telfer, in Western Australia, increased from 96 903 oz to 113 797 oz and copper production reached 4 162 t. The Red Chris operation, in Canada, also increased its gold production during the June quarter, from 12 199 oz to 15 440 oz, and its copper production from 7 128 t to 8 401 t.

“Newcrest has safely delivered a strong fourth quarter enabling us to meet our group gold production guidance for the year, notwithstanding the challenges of addressing the risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic,” said MD and CEO Sandeep Biswas.

“Cadia exceeded the top-end of its production guidance range and achieved record annualised mine and mill throughput rates in the quarter, further highlighting the strength of this world-class asset.”

The increased production at Cadia reflected the combination of now planned shutdown events, coupled with the successful implementation of debottlenecking initiatives in the concentrator circuit.

Biswas said that Newcrest increased its exposure to the Fruta del Norte mine, in Ecuador, during the quarter under review, with the acquisition of its finance facilities, which will provide the miner with significant additional cash flows from the asset going forward.

Newcrest at the end of April acquired the gold prepay, stream and offtake agreements for the Fruta del Norte mine for A$460-million.