(Reuters) - Australia's biggest gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd <NCM.AX> on Thursday reported a fall in third-quarter output and cut its full year production forecast for gold and copper.
Newcrest said it expects production of 2.25 million to 2.35 million ounces of gold for the full-year ending June 30, down from 2.4 million to 2.7 million ounces previously, mainly due to damage to a tailings dam wall at its flagship Cadia mine.
The miner cut its full-year production forecast from Cadia in New South Wales state to 550,000–600,000 ounces from 680,000-780,000 ounces expected earlier.
The miner restarted processing at Cadia earlier this month after halting operations due to damage to the tailings facility in early March.
Last week, Newcrest said it expected Cadia to return to full production in the next 16 months after it won approval to use a part of mine's open pit for tailing storage.
For the quarter ending March 31, Cadia produced 142,970 ounces of gold, compared to 168,579 ounces a year ago.
Newcrest also operates the Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea and Telfer in Western Australia.
Total gold production for the March quarter fell 3.8 percent to 575,791 ounces from the same period last year. Total copper output fell to 18,862 ounces from 22,074 ounces a year ago. The company cut full-year guidance for copper to 70,000-75,000 tonnes from 80,000-90,000 tonnes expected earlier.
Newcrest's cost of gold production for the March quarter was $826 per ounce compared with $713 per ounce a year ago, on an all-in sustaining basis.
(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin)
