Jointly owned by North American giants Barrick and Newmont, the superpit mined through lower than average grades during the period. As a result, it was eclipsed by Newmont's Boddington mine - also in Western Australia - as the nation's biggest gold-producing mine. A planned shutdown at Newcrest's Telfer mine also contributed. But Dr Close said there was room for optimism, with several large projects, including Newcrest's Cadia East expansion, ready to start producing gold within the next month or so. The benchmark gold price spent most of last week hovering around $US1720 an ounce.