Australia's biggest producer of gold Newcrest Mining Ltd. (ASX: NCM)has reported that its gold production in the first quarter went up by 79 percent to 674,219 ounces, the company said in a disclosure.

Newcrest's acquisition of Lihir Gold Ltd. provided the needed boost to the company's gold output, which in the same period last year stood at 377,084 ounces.

The mining firm based in the Melbourne said today that it has accomplished the full share share and cash takeover of Lihir in September this year.

Thus, Newcrest is now the fifth largest gold producer with mining areas in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and West Africa.

Newcrest has estimated full-year gold output to be between 2.85 million ounces and 3.0 million ounces, the company said. Its copper production, on the other hand, dropped to 17,693 metric tons compared with 21,289 tons posted a year ago.

In order to increase its gold production especially in Lihir, it needs no less than $260 million and a capital expenditure of $1.23 billion.

Newcrest shares edges up tp A$40.06 at 03:50 p.m. Sydney time on the Australian stock exchange.