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Newmont's Yanacocha lifts Peru March gold output 5.1%

The Peruvian Energy & Mines Ministry reports the country's gold output climbed for a fourth month in March on gains at Newmont Mining's Yanacocha mine which increased production by 27%.

LIMA (BLOOMBERG) - 

Peru's gold output climbed for a fourth month in March on gains at Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM)'s Yanacocha mine, the government said.

Gold production rose 5.1 percent to 13,758 kilograms from a year earlier, the Energy & Mines Ministry said today in an e- mailed statement. Copper output added 0.9 percent to 108,864 metric tons from March 2011.

Gold output climbed after Yanacocha, Latin America's largest gold mine, increased production by 27 percent. Copper producers Cia. Minera Antamina SA and Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO) boosted output by 25 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

Peru is the world's third-largest copper and zinc producer and No. 6 in gold.

Silver, zinc, lead and molybdenum production all gained in March, while tin, iron and tungsten fell.

On the Comex in New York, gold futures for June delivery fell 2.1 percent to $1,604.50 an ounce, the biggest decline for a most-active contract since April 4. Earlier, the price touched $1,595.50, the lowest since Jan. 4.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Emery in Lima at aemery1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net