UPDATE 1-Goldcorp Mexico sees Penasquito gold output soon

(Adds Goldcorp official's comment, other details)

MEXICO CITY, March 12 (Reuters) - Goldcorp Inc (G.TO: Quote, Profile, Research)(GG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) expects to start producing gold from its Penasquito mine in northern Mexico over the next two months, well ahead of schedule, the Canadian company's Mexico subsidiary said on Wednesday.

Goldcorp Mexico Vice President Salvador Garcia told Reuters at a Canadian Chamber of Commerce event that the company expects the Penasquito mine, in Zacatecas state, to produce at least 30,000 ounces of gold in 2008.

"We were looking at the middle of the last quarter of this year (but) it's been quicker. Happily, the suppliers and contractors have done better," Garcia said.

A Goldcorp spokeswoman in Toronto said output could even reach 70,000 ounces this year.

Garcia said Goldcorp would scale up production at Penasquito to at least 80,000 ounces in 2009 and more than 150,000 ounces in 2010 as the mine ramps up to full capacity of around 500,000 ounces annually in the next few years, making it Mexico's largest gold mine.

Goldcorp will invest $710 million this year in Penasquito, which has 13 million ounces of gold reserves, Garcia said. Goldcorp has already said it expects to invest $1.5 billion over the mine's estimated life span of 26 years. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg, editing by Matthew Lewis)