The annual gold output of the Khatthiya gold mine in Newcrest exceeds expectations.

Australia's Newcrest Mining Co., Ltd. said on Thursday that annual production at its Khatthiya mine exceeded its expectations, but quarterly production fell 5 per cent as a result of an unexpected shutdown at its Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea.

Khatthiya of New South Wales reported record throughput in the June quarter, with quarterly gold production of 194757 ounces and full-year production of 764896 ounces. This exceeds the upper limit of its annual forecast range of 760000 ounces.

However, as Newcrest changes mill motors, the mine is expected to face higher costs and lower gold and copper production over the next 19 weeks. Its concentrator 1 will operate at about 60% of its normal capacity.

Australia's largest listed gold miner said its total production in the June quarter fell to 542332 ounces from 573175 ounces a year ago, even though its annual output at the Khatthiya mine exceeded the company's expectations. However, this exceeded the Royal Bank of Canada's previous estimate of about 531000 ounces of production.

It is reported that the high-pressure sterilizer at the Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea is undergoing an unplanned outage and regular maintenance planned for the September quarter has been advanced.