Newcrest on track for full year

NEWCREST Mining says it is on track to hit full year production guidance after improved output from its gold mines in the December quarter.

Newcrest shares were one of the worst performers on Friday, slumping 6.4 per cent to $21.50 after the company’s output fell below market expectations.

Australia’s biggest gold miner produced 436,085 ounces of gold in the December quarter, up 10 per cent from the September period when output at the company’s flagship Cadia mine was slowed by expansion work at the mine’s mill. Newcrest also produced 26,418 tonnes of copper in the quarter.

But Macquarie analysts said Cadia’s return to full production levels after the expansion work had been slower than expected, with the mine’s output of 115,362 ounces of gold and 18.207 tonnes of copper coming in about 20 per cent below their estimates.

Newcrest said it was on track to meet its annual production guidance of 1.8 to 2 million ounces of gold.

Its mines will need to pick up the pace to meet that guidance, however, with Newcrest producing only 832,298 ounces in the first fiscal half.