CORRECTED - CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Lihir Gold year net loss $24.1 mln on de-hedg

(Corrects headline to add missing "mln") (Adds company comment)

SYDNEY, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Lihir Gold Ltd (LGL.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a full-year net loss of $24.1 million, hit by the cost of exiting its gold hedge book to give it more exposure to rising bullion prices, but said its operating profit rose 25 percent.

The Papua New Guinea-based miner on Friday forecast gold production of 740,000 to 820,000 ounces in 2008, up from a record 701,000 ounces in 2007, and said it expected a "solid improvement" in annual earnings.

"The result reflects an improvement in underlying operating performance, with mining tonnages and process plant throughputs running at record levels," Managing Director Arthur Hood said in a statement.

Lihir, which mines a long-cooled volcano on an island about 700 kilometres (438 miles) northeast of the Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby, had flagged the loss to the market after restructuring last year to take advantage of soaring gold prices.

The result compared with a 2006 net profit of $53.4 million and was in line with analyst forecasts for a loss of $6 million to $36 million, according to analysts surveyed by Reuters.

The Lihir mine, one of the world's biggest gold deposits, is a key export earner for impoverished Papua New Guinea.

The company said it was close to finalising a feasibility study to boost production to more than 1 million ounces a year.

Lihir said the 2008 production increase would largely reflect the full-year impact of a process plant expansion and a start to commercial production at its Australian Ballarat mine.