CA - Newcrest Mining says quarterly gold production fell 17% Q/Q

Newcrest Mining ( OTCPK:NCMGF ) ( OTCPK:NCMGY ) reported a Q1 drop in gold and copper production from the previous quarter, but said it expects output of the metals will increase in Q2.

Australia's largest gold miner said it produced 527,115 oz of gold in the September quarter, down 17% from 637,032 oz in the June quarter and a UBS estimate of 557K oz, as shutdowns due to planned maintenance resulted in lower mill throughput across all operations.

Gold production from the Cadia mine in New South Wales and the Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea each fell by more than 20%.

Q1 copper production fell 16% Q/Q to 32,459 metric tons from 38,671 tons in the previous quarter.

The company expects production of both gold and copper will improve in the December quarter because of lower planned maintenance.

Newcrest Mining ( OTCPK:NCMGF ) ( OTCPK:NCMGY ) said earlier this week a "critical incident" forced the suspension of all mining and processing operations at its Brucejack mine in British Columbia .

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