The company's mines produced 1.06 million ounces of gold at total cash costs of $US770 per ounce in the March quarter, compared with guidance of 950,000oz-1Moz at total costs of $800-850/oz.

All-in sustaining costs dropped 22% to $993/oz.

The results were thanks to the continued ramp-up of AngloGold's two new low-cost mines, the Tropicana mine in Western Australia and the Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Our operators have delivered another strong performance and we continue to manage costs aggressively," AngloGold CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan (Venkat) said.

"There's still plenty of work to do but with a strong team intact, a good foundation and some significant wins under our belt, we remain focused on continuing to deliver positive results to our shareholders under tough market conditions."

The company posted adjusted headline earnings for the quarter of $119 million, slightly higher than the same period last year and up from $45 million in the December quarter.

AngloGold's 70% share of Tropicana production was 84,000oz gold at AISC of $694/oz, while Sunrise Dam in WA produced 71,000oz at AISC of $1095/oz.

The company said four reverse circulation rigs underground at Sunrise Dam returned positive results to support a large bulk mining opportunity of around 3 grams per tonne gold for 2014 and beyond, with two stopes of around 200,000 tonnes and 175,000t identified.

At the high-cost Obuasi mine in Ghana, which is under threat of closure, AngloGold said it was progressing initiatives to address underperformance.

"We must do all we can to stop the current cash outflows at Obuasi and define a sustainable future - and we appreciate the support of our partners in taking the decisive action necessary to achieve this," Venkat said.

Exploration and prefeasibility expenditure was $34 million, including $12 million on greenfields exploration in Australia, Guinea and Colombia.

Gold production for the current quarter is forecast at 1.02-1.06Moz gold at total cash costs of $830-865/oz.