News: NCM Aussie gold miner Newcrest drops after potential buyer Newmont's weak second quarter

July 21 (Reuters) - Shares of Australia's top gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd (NCM) fell as much as 5.4% on Friday, marking its worst intraday fall in nearly 10 months after its potential buyer Newmont Corp NEM.N overnight reported weaker-than-expected second quarter profit.

Newcrest, which is in the process of being acquired by Newmont for A$26.2 billion ($17.75 billion), was trading 5.2% lower at A$26.20 as of 0506 GMT, its lowest level since July 7.

Newcrest was one of the biggest losers in the ASX 200 benchmark index (xjo) , which was trading 0.2% lower.

Around 2.9 million Newcrest shares had changed hands, higher than the 30-day average of 2.4 million shares.

Newmont, the world's largest gold miner, missed second-quarter profit estimates due to lower production and higher costs. It also withdrew the annual outlook for its Penasquito mine in Mexico as operations remain suspended due to a strike.

The Denver, Colorado-based gold miner said it expects costs to improve through the rest of the year.

($1 = 1.4758 Australian dollars) (([email protected]; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))