Newcrest to produce gold in RI

Newcrest to produce gold in RI

KALGOORLIE, Australia (Reuter): Newcrest Mining Ltd said
yesterday it expects to produce 150,000 ounces of gold annually
from its Gosowong project in Indonesia at an average cash cost of
US$150 an ounce.

Production at the mine should start in late 1998, Newcrest
official David Sasson told the Diggers and Dealers mining
conference here.

The project is estimated to cost US$60 million, he said.
Sasson also said the Telfer mine in Western Australia, which has
been plagued by high costs and flooding, would operate in the
black beginning this financial year to June 30.

"Telfer will be profitable from this year onwards," Sasson
said.

Analysts have said the problems at Telfer are weighing on the
Newcrest's bottom line.

Stockbroker Hartley Poynton Ltd said in a recent report it
expected Newcrest to post a net loss of A$24.6 million in
1997/98.

Sasson also said Newcrest's Cadia gold mine in New South Wales
would commence production in September 1998 and that the nearby
high-grade Ridgeway deposit was "moving toward feasibility."

"Newcrest will continue to fund exploration, albeit in a more
structured manner," he said.

Former Newcrest managing director John Quinn resigned from the
company in May 1997 following a failed bid by Newcrest to merge
with rival Normandy Mining Ltd.