Newmont to spend $120m on Tanami

Global miner Newmont Mining will spend up to $120 million expanding its Tanami gold project in the Northern Territory, including construction of a second decline in the underground mine and upgrades to the plant’s capacity.

Colorado-headquartered Newmont plans to add a second decline to the mine, which is expected to add up to 80,000 ounces of gold production per annum and lower all-in sustaining costs by between 5 per cent and 10 per cent in the first five years of production, while extending the life of the mine by three years.

The planned expansion to the processing plant includes adding a ball mill, thickener and gravity circuit to improve recoveries and expand mill capacity from 2.3 million tonnes to 2.6mt per annum.

“When expansion is complete, Tanami will produce between 425,000 and 475,000oz a year at all-in sustaining costs of between $700 and $750/oz in the first five years of production,” the company said in a statement.

“Recent exploration results demonstrate the potential to rouble the current reserves and resources by expanding existing Tanami deposits, and developing adjacent discoveries.”

Newmont expects mining rates to ramp up to about 2.6mtpa once the second decline at Tanami is built.

Chief executive Gary Goldberg hailed Tanami as a success story for Newmont.

“Since 2012, the team has more than doubled gold production while cutting costs by about two-thirds and significantly improving resource confidence,” Mr Goldberg said.

“The expansion project continues this trajectory, offering robust returns of more than 35 per cent at current gold prices.”

Tanami produced about 345,000oz of gold last year at all-in sustaining costs of $1,038/oz.