PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian gold major Newcrest Mining has reported an increase in gold production for the three months to June, making it the ninth consecutive quarter in which the miner either met or exceeded production expectations.

Gold production for the quarter increased to 673 542 oz, compared with the 610 186 oz produced in the previous quarter. Copper production was, however, down, from the 24 307 t produced in the March quarter, to 22 170 t in the quarter under review.

“Our performance has been sadly overshadowed by two recent fatalities; the first at Telfer, in May, and the second at Hidden Valley last weekend. Fatalities and life-altering injuries are absolutely unacceptable and my number-one priority is to eliminate these from Newcrest,” said MD and CEO Sandeep Biswas.

Underground operations at the Telfer mine, in Western Australia, were temporarily suspended following the May incident, resulting in gold production decreasing to 116 257 oz for the June quarter, compared with the 129 086 oz produced in the March quarter.

Copper production at the mine also decreased to 3 861 t, from the 5 719 t in the March quarter.

Limited underground operations resumed two days after the fatality and, by the end of the June quarter, ore production from underground operations was at some 75% of normal rates, with full production expected to resume by mid-August.

Operations at Hidden Valley, in Papua New Guinea (PNG), remained suspended on Thursday, following a July 18 fatality. Operations would only restart once an investigation into the incident had been completed.

The Hidden Valley mine produced 23 752 oz of gold in the quarter under review, compared with the 22 018 oz produced in the March quarter, owing to the higher grade of ore mined from the pits. This was partially offset by lower throughput owing to a planned nine-day mill shutdown.

The mine also produced 184 512 oz of silver in the quarter under review, down from the 199 801 oz produced in the previous quarter.

At the Lihir operation, also in PNG, Newcrest produced 195 457 oz of gold, up from the 178 628 oz reported in the three months to March. Newcrest said the increased gold production was driven primarily by higher grinding throughput and higher feed grades.

However, production was negatively affected by a plant disruption, with the process plant having been shut down for a 36-hour period.

At the Cadia operations, in New South Wales, gold production reached 42 621 oz, which was slightly below the 47 571 oz produced in the previous quarter, while copper production declined from 8 128 t to 7 401 t.

Newcrest noted that higher head grades from the Cadia East Panel Cave 1 (PC1) had offset the suspension of production from the Cadia East Panel Cave 2, following a seismic event in February.

Mine production from PC1 was only marginally higher quarter-on-quarter, owing to a planned six-day shutdown to improve the high-voltage electrical system.

Meanwhile, the Gosowong mine, in Indonesia, delivered 122 103 oz of gold in the three months to June, a significant improvement on the 75 312 oz delivered in the previous quarter.

The 62% increase in gold production was primarily owing to an increase in ore availability after the commissioning of a dewatering pumping system and higher head grades at the Toguraci deposit.

The Bonikro mine, in Côte d’Ivoire, delivered an additional 35 606 oz of gold for the quarter, which was on par with the March quarter output.

For the full year to June 30, Newcrest produced 2.42-million ounces of gold and 96 816 t of copper, which compared well with the 2.39-million ounces of gold and 86 118 t of copper produced in 2014.

Newcrest on Thursday reported a slight increase in the all-in sustaining cost  (AISC) to A$978/oz for the three months to June, compared with the A$946/oz in the previous quarter.

For the full-year, AISC was recorded at A$941/oz, compared with the A$976/oz delivered in 2014.