Newcrest Mining Ltd's Lihir project in Papua New Guinea is to lose more value than earlier expected in the company's anticipated asset writedowns.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the company, Australia's largest listed gold miner, says writedowns would likely be higher than forecast, after closer examination of its operations following a sharp slide in the price of gold.
It says it expects to report total impairment charges of 5.6 billion US dollars when it announces results for the year to June 30 this week.
In June, Newcrest warned it faced writedowns of between 4.6 to 5.5 billion US dollars.
The Lihir gold mine in New Ireland province is expected to take the biggest hit, at 3.24 billion.
Newcrest says the forecast writedowns are still subject to audit.
The company has been forced to cut costs and sack hundreds of workers this year after the fall in gold prices.
