* Q1 output remains on track despite Australia rains
* Headline EPS seen at 62 cents vs 21 cents (Adds background)
JOHANNESBURG, May 3 (Reuters) - AngloGold Ashanti, Africa's leading gold producer, said on Tuesday it expected first-quarter earnings to triple, after the company eliminated its hedge book last year.
AngloGold also said in a statement it remained on track to produce 1.039 million ounces of gold in the first quarter of 2011.
"AngloGold Ashanti is pleased to report that strong performances from its operations in continental Africa and the Americas during the first quarter helped claw back much of the 20,000 ounces of production lost due to unprecedented rainfall at its Sunrise Dam mine in Australia," it said.
Gold output in the previous quarter was a bit higher at 1.148 million ounces but domestic operations for South African gold miners are often hard hit in the March quarter because of the slow reboot after the Christmas break.
Headline earnings per share, the main gauge of profit for South Africa's publicly-listed companies, was seen at 62 cents versus 21 cents in the previous quarter.
"Improved cash flow per ounce of production, following the elimination of all hedge contracts, has also made possible a further 15 percent reduction in net debt during the quarter from $1.3 billion to $1.1 billion," it said.
The group will report its quarterly earnings on May 11.
Its rivals Harmony Gold and Gold Fields have already said they see production down in the quarter. Harmony is the first of South Africa's "Big 3" to report for the March quarter with its results published on Thursday.
Harmony also said last month that it expected its headline earnings to be lifted in the quarter because of a tax allowance.
Gold is near record peaks and it also had a frothy climb in the first quarter of 2011 but South African miners face high labor and power costs.
The country also has the deepest mines in the world, adding to the costs of extracting the precious metal. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)