Newcrest Mining has brought down its full year production guidance quoting a challenging operating environment. These include African politics and wet weather conditions in Australia.
The gold mining company has found the problems at its Ivory Coast operations and the flooding of the eastern states of Australia detrimental to its full year production guidance of both copper and gold.
The fourth biggest gold company in the world said that its gold production for 2010 – 11 would be between 2.85 and 2.95 million ounces. This is slightly less than the initial guidance which was slated between 2.85 and 3 million ounces. The copper production forecast earlier at 80,000 to 86,000 tonnes also was reduced to between 75,000 to 80,000 tonnes.
The company stocks responded positively to the announcement as their value rose in early trading. The production loss of 7,000 ounces in the December 2010 quarter can be directly attributed to the suspension of operations at the Bonikro mine in Ivory Coast following political tensions after the elections there. Operations are set to resume in February.
The Australian floods made it difficult for the miner to operate in Cadia Valley. The Cracow and Mt Rawdon sites were also affected by the weather and lost 3,000 ounces in combined production. Production was less than when compared to before Newcrest Mining took over Lihir Gold in 2009.