Newcrest lifts gold production

Australia's biggest gold miner, Newcrest Mining, has lifted gold production by a fifth in the three months to June 30 to a record 463,170 ounces, leading to a record output for the year.

Newcrest said gold production for the year was a record 1.62 million ounces, up from 1.53 million last year.

Gold production in Newcrest's Cadia Hill mine jumped 30 per cent "due to mining and processing higher grade ore", the company said.

Newcrest said operational performance at its Telfer mine in Western Australia "improved progressively" throughout the June quarter, after its biggest mine had been dogged by delays and cost overruns.

Open pit mining at the mine improved in May and June because of higher grades of gold being mined, the company said in a statement to the market.

Newcrest said Telfer was implementing a series of strategies to increase overall gold and copper recoveries, including increasing plant availability and "debottlenecking" parts of the plant.

Group copper production for the quarter was 22,188 metric tons, down 7 per cent from the corresponding period last year.