GGP17 Aug 2019 07:52
Record gold production more than doubles Newcrest’s profit
The West Australian
17 Aug 2019
PETER MILNE
Newcrest has posted an annual profit of $US561 million ($827 million), more than double the previous year’s $US202 million, on the back of its low-cost Cadia mine in NSW as it looks to extend the life of its higher cost Telfer operation in WA.
Cadia produced a record 913,000 ounces of gold in the 12 months to June 30 at a cost of just $US132 an ounce. In comparison, Newcrest produced a similar amount of gold from Lihir in Papua New Guinea at a cost of $US887 an ounce.
Newcrest mined 452,000oz of gold from its wholly owned Telfer mine at $US1253/oz. The remote site in the Great Sandy Desert also produced 15,000 tonnes of copper.
In March, Newcrest struck a $90 million farm-in agreement with Greatland Gold that could see it earn a 70 per cent interest in the Havieron prospect, about 45km east of Telfer.
Newcrest chief executive Sandeep Biswas said the development of Havieron as a satellite mine could extend the life of the Telfer operation. Four rigs are drilling to delineate the shape, direction and scale of the ore body, a task Mr Biswas said he expected to be completed in six to 12 months.
He said Havieron had much higher grades than other deposits in the Paterson Province and if the resource was proved up it could be brought into production more easily using the Telfer infrastructure.
Newcrest also yesterday said it had completed the acquisition of a 70 per cent interest in the Red Chris ore body in British Columbia, Canada.
The $US804 million purchase was first announced in March
Newcrest yesterday fell 1.4 per cent, or 51¢, to $36.26.
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