TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold producer Newcrest Mining on Thursday said it had achieved two significant milestones in achieving its increased gold production targets.

The company’s two significant expansion projects, the Cadia East development, in New South Wales, Australia, and the Lihir mine’s ‘million ounce plant upgrade’ (MOPU), in Papua New Guinea (PNG), both achieved milestones during the quarter.

Production volume from Cadia East continued to ramp up and commercial production milestones were achieved by the end of December, enabling first commercial production to begin from the start of this month.

Newcrest said the Lihir MOPU project was in the final stages of commissioning and is expected to be complete by the end of the month, after which the production ramp-up would start.

Both projects are expected to have a final cost within 8% of their budget.

“The successful completion of these two major projects represents a significant milestone for Newcrest. Together, Lihir MOPU and Cadia East establish the platform to enable delivery of significant production growth in both gold and copper over the next five years at lower unit cash costs,” the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the company also reported production results for the second quarter ended December 31, during which it managed to lift gold and copper production by 7%. Production for the period totalled 492 906 oz of gold and 19 926 t of copper.

The company said it expected its gold and copper production to progressively increase over the remainder of the financial year.

Cash costs were A$727/oz and cash margins were A$924/oz in the quarter. Total production cost was A$1 031/oz.

The company said unit costs were marginally higher in the quarter, mainly owing to increased mining and milling activity, the effects of reduced grade at Gosowong, in Indonesia, and Lihir, and a larger production contribution from the higher cost Telfer operation, in Western Australia.

Cash costs are expected to reduce over the next two quarters as Cadia East and Lihir MOPU volumes make a larger contribution to total production.

Further, Newcrest said exploration drilling activities achieved promising results in West Africa and Fiji. In PNG, appraisal drilling results at Golpu indicated improved gold and copper grades in the proposed first lift of the block cave and have enhanced the understanding of the orebody structure.

During the quarter, Newcrest completed the sale of a 7.5% interest in PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals, the joint venture company that owns the Gosowong operation, to Indonesian State-owned mining company Antam for $160-million.

The company had also reached new enterprise agreements for Telfer and Cadia Valley employees, each with a four-year duration.

The company’s TSX-listed stock was listed at C$25.88 apiece early on Thursday afternoon.