Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) said Thursday it has made the first gold pour at its US$2.8 billion Boddington mine in Western Australia state, as well as trucking the first shipment of copper concentrate to port.

At full production of about 1 million troy ounces of gold, Boddington will be Australia's largest gold mine.

Including copper credits, gold production costs will be about US$300/oz.

Gold output from Boddington, as well as a number of smaller mines, may make Australia the world's second largest gold producer this year, before South Africa, according to Australia-based Surbiton consultancy.

-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;

61-2-8272-4689 elisabeth.behrmann@dowjones.com