Gold miner Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Wednesday as a US$250 million-a-year cost-cutting plan started to take effect.

The world's fourth-largest gold producer by market value maintained its 2017 forecast for production of around 2.5 million ounces of gold at all-in sustaining costs of approximately US$850 an ounce.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp reported net earnings of US$170 million, or 20 cents US a share, in the three months through the end of March. That compared with earnings of US$80 million, or 10 cents US per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted for various non-cash items, earnings were 10 cents US a share, ahead of analysts' average forecast of eight cents US a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The miner, which has operations in North and South America, said its all-in sustaining costs to produce an ounce of gold declined to US$800 in the first quarter from US$836 in the same period a year ago. First-quarter gold output fell to 655,000 ounces compared with 784,000 ounces a year ago.

Goldcorp in January laid out an ambitious growth plan that included increasing production as well as yet-to-be-mined reserves by 20 per cent over the next five years and cutting costs by the same amount.