MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Newcrest Mining Ltd said on Thursday it had committed A$246 million ($181.4 million) to expand open pit mining at its Telfer operations in Western Australia, which will extend the operations for at least two years.<\/p>\n
Australias largest listed gold miner said in a filing it had entered into a contract for work to proceed from one pit to the next at the gold, copper and silver mines in the states remote Paterson province.<\/p>\n
This... is an investment in Telfers future which will ensure the operation is able to continue for at least the next two years, Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Biswas said.<\/p>\n
With additional drilling, we believe there is the potential for further mine life extensions in the open pit and the underground beyond this time.<\/p>\n
Telfer hosts the largest gold processing facility in the states remote Paterson Province where it produces gold dor and a copper-gold concentrate, and has capacity to process more.<\/p>\n
But as the open pit mines have neared end of life, concerns have grown that its processing facility would run out of feed and become uneconomic.<\/p>\n
The announcement signals increasing confidence around Newcrests big exploration find Havieron, which is nearby, said RBC in a note, which could feed into the Telfer processing circuit and lengthen its life.<\/p>\n
We believe this opens up long-term optionality with Havieron and potential mine-life extension (at Telfer). The announcement today flags NCMs confidence in Havieron, it said in a report.<\/p>\n
RBC values Havieron at around A$800m or ~A$1\/sh for its 60% share in the project, which it owns with London-listed Greatland Gold and in which it can earn up to a 70% interest if it meets certain commitments.<\/p>\n
Production stripping for the cutback will start next month, with first ore production expected to be delivered to the Telfer mine in March 2022, Newcrest said.<\/p>\n
The announcement comes weeks after the miner reported a 5.4% drop in its June quarter output, following unplanned downtime at its Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n
($1 = 1.3561 Australian dollars)<\/p>\n
Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Michael Perry<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Continue reading here: <\/p>\n
Australia's Newcrest invests $181 million to expand open pit at Telfer mine - Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Newcrest Mining Ltd said on Thursday it had committed A$246 million ($181.4 million) to expand open pit mining at its Telfer operations in Western Australia, which will extend the operations for at least two years. Australias largest listed gold miner said in a filing it had entered into a contract for work to proceed from one pit to the next at the gold, copper and silver mines in the states remote Paterson province. This... Continue reading