Proving that the cost of exploration and development is not cheap, Newmont Gold (NYSE) spent about US$400 million on several capital-intensive projects, as well as US$69 million on worldwide exploration, in 1994.
Most of the expenditures were incurred at the Carlin mine in Nevada and at three international projects.
In 1994, Newmont accomplished more than 4 miles of underground drifting at four locations within the Carlin mine. It is hoped the drifting will enable the company to increase underground gold production to about 150,000 oz. in 1995 from 22,000 oz. in 1994.
The roaster at the Carlin mine was temporarily shut down following a fire Nov. 3. Funds were spent to refurbish the roaster, which reopened Dec. 30. One of the two roaster trains has achieved design operating rates and greater-than-design recoveries. The second train will be started this week and should be operating at full capacity by late March.
Newmont has also begun processing low-grade gold ore from the Carlin mine, utilizing sulphide-oxidizing bacteria. The 1-million-ton bioleaching demonstration project is expected to generate 20,000 oz. during 1995, and the company believes bioleaching technology offers significant potential for the long term.
Meanwhile in Uzbekistan, construction at the Zarafshan-Newmont 50-50 joint-venture project is more than three-quarters complete. The construction involves building crushing plants and heap-leach recovery systems for the extraction of gold from low-grade, stockpiled ore. Operations are expected to start in the second quarter, with production targeted at an annual rate of 450,000 oz.
In Indonesia, site preparation is under way at the Minahasa gold project, with preproduction mining scheduled to start in April. In the meantime, Newmont will construct a mill and roaster, with commercial production due to start in early 1996 at an annual rate of 140,000 oz.
Optimization studies are nearing completion, and a full feasibility is to follow at the Batu Hijau project, also in Indonesia. Newmont expects this project will be the largest single discovery in the company’s history. However, the copper-gold project has many financial, environmental and engineering challenges to overcome before mining can commence. Fourth-quarter production last year attributable to the Carlin mine remained relatively unchanged at 412,000 oz. Fourth-quarter output from the company’s 38% interest in the Minera Yanacocha project in Peru rose to 38,000 oz. from 21,000 oz. in the previous year.
On Jan. 1, Newmont Gold and Newmont Mining (NYSE) combined operations; the former is an 89%-owned subsidiary of the latter.
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