Newcrest cuts 2020 gold production forecast

Red Chris mine, British Columbia. (Image courtesy of Newcrest Mining)

Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM) has lowered its gold production forecast for the full year due to reduced output following the sale of its interest in the Gosowong mine in Indonesia.

Australia's largest listed gold miner cut gold production outlook to between 2.1 million ounces and 2.2 million ounces for fiscal 2020, from 2.38 million ounces to 2.54 million ounces.

On the exploration side, Newcrest announced that drilling at Red Chris has confirmed the presence of a discrete 'pod' of high-grade mineralization within the East Zone about 100m long, 100m wide and 200m high.

Last year, Newcrest acquired a 70% joint-venture interest in the Red Chris copper and gold mine in British Columbia, Canada, as part of an ongoing push by the world's top bullion miners to get even bigger.

Last year, Newcrest acquired a 70% joint-venture interest in the Red Chris copper and gold mine in British Columbia

Infill drilling is planned to fully define the extent of the mineralization and to search for additional high-grade pods within the East Zone. The underground mining concept study, currently in progress, will evaluate the option of stoping any high-grade pods ahead of other bulk underground mining methods to bring high-grade ore into production earlier.

Work also continues on evaluating the commencement of a decline late in the 2020 calendar year to further enhance and accelerate exploration efforts, with such a decline also being of use for any underground mining operation, Newcrest said.

Drilling at Havieron in the Paterson region of Western Australia continues to expand and demonstrate the continuity of high-grade mineralization, which extends over 450m to vertical depths of 600m and remains open at depth and to the northwest.

An additional 20,000 metres are planned to be drilled to support the objective of delivering of a maiden resource estimate in the second half of calendar year 2020, Newcrest said.

(With files from Reuters)