Telfer mine

Coordinates: 21°42′30″S 122°13′40″E / 21.70833°S 122.22778°E / -21.70833; 122.22778
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Telfer Mine
Location
Telfer Mine is located in Western Australia
Telfer Mine
Telfer Mine
Location in Western Australia
LocationTelfer
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates21°42′30″S 122°13′40″E / 21.70833°S 122.22778°E / -21.70833; 122.22778
Production
ProductsGold, copper, silver
Production
  • Gold: 349,000 troy ounces
  • Copper: 17,000 tonnes
  • Silver: 208,000 ounces
Financial year2022–23[1]
TypeUnderground, open pit
History
Opened1977
Active1977–2000, 2003–present
Owner
CompanyNewmont
Websiteoperations.newmont.com/australia/telfer
Year of acquisition2023 (2023)
Map

The Telfer Mine is a gold, copper and silver mine located at Telfer on the land of the Martu people,[2]: 7  in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia. It is owned by Newmont, having acquired the previous owner, Newcrest Mining, formerly the largest gold producer listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, in November 2023.[3][1]

The mine was discovered by Newmont in 1972. However, Jean-Paul Turcaud, a French prospector, disputes this claim to this day.[4][5]

Telfer is one of two gold mines Newcrest currently operates in Australia, the other being Cadia in New South Wales.[6]

In the 2019–2020 financial year, the Telfer mine produced 12.2 tonnes (393,164 troy ounces) of gold, 16,000 tonnes (35 million pounds) of copper and 5.1 tonnes (164,000 troy ounces) of silver.[7]

At 31 December 2020, measured and indicated mineral resources were 110 tonnes (3.4 million troy ounces) of gold and 0.36 million tonnes (0.79 billion pounds) of copper, and proved and probable ore reserves were 34 tonnes (1.1 million troy ounces) of gold and 0.17 million tonnes (370 million pounds) of copper.[8]

History[edit]

Discovery[edit]

Newmont first made a claim to the deposit in 1972.[9] However this claim is disputed by Jean-Paul Turcaud to this date. Turcaud claims he found the Telfer deposit two years before Newcrest did. In the early 1980s, Turcaud reached a settlement, accepting $25,000 from Newmont's head office in New York City but continued his claim, demanding a Royal Commission.[4][10]

The official story of the discovery states that the deposit was found by Day Dawn Minerals, a small exploration company, who did not stake a claim either. One of the company's geologists, a man called Ronnie Thomson, then moved on to work for Newmont, in which position he informed David Tyrwhitt, then exploration manager for the company in Western Australia, about the promising gold samples that had been found. Newmont paid Day Dawn $15,000 for the maps of the deposit and Tyrwhitt staked out the claim in May 1972.[4]

First mining period 1977 to 2000[edit]

The mine opened in 1977 as a joint venture between BHP and Newmont. In 1990, a merger between BHP Gold and Newmont resulted in the creation of Newcrest, with ownership of the Telfer Mine now lying with Newcrest.[11][12] The Telfer gold mine was expanded in 1991,[13] and in June 1995, the mine reserves were 118.2 tonnes (3.8 million troy ounces), with resources at 227.1 tonnes (7.3 million troy ounces). The annual production was 11.5 to 11.8 tonnes (370,000 to 380,000 troy ounces) of ore.[14] In 1997, the mine reached the milestone of having produced 155.5 tonnes (5 million troy ounces) of gold.[9] Open cut mining was suspended in August 2000 due to high operating costs. The closure of the mine came one year ahead of schedule as production of underground ore was well below mill capacity and therefore not viable.[9] High production costs were primarily caused by the presence of cyanide soluble copper in the open pit ore.[12] Newcrest then focused on exploratory drilling for new minerals.[11]

Second mining period from 2002[edit]

In 2002, Newcrest Mining announced a new redevelopment project worth $1 billion,[15] after discovering new mineral areas and a reserve base of some 591.0 tonnes (19 million troy ounces) of gold and 640 thousand tonnes (1.4 billion pounds) of copper.[16] The redevelopment expanded underground mining areas, deepened open pits, constructed a processing plant and power station, and built a new gas supply line from Port Hedland.[11][17] The Telfer mine is not connected to the Western Australian power grid but instead produces its own power from natural gas via a 450 kilometres (280 mi) purpose built pipeline. The power station on site is able to produce 138 MW of power.[18] The focus changed from open pit mining to underground mining, and Telfer became one of Australia's largest gold mines,[11] second only to Kalgoorlie's Super Pit until Boddington Gold Mine reopened in 2009.[19]

The mine reopened in November 2004, after commissioning of the processing plant and, initially as an open cut mine, from March 2006 also with an underground operation.[12][18]

In January 2008, Newcrest Mining lowered the mine's annual gold output targets. Newcrest said, "At Telfer, mechanical availability of the open pit mining fleet and the processing of harder ores are impacting the expected production profile for the full year. Telfer site cash costs are expected to [rise] over guidance by 8-9 per cent."[20] In June, the mine was affected by the statewide gas crisis caused by an explosion at Varanus Island. The mine lost 622 to 778 kilograms (20 to 25 thousand troy ounces) of gold output for June.[21] Newcrest obtained interim gas supply from Woodside Petroleum until August, when gas supply from Varanus Island resumed.[22]

Newcrest was forced to cut job numbers from 1,400 to around 1,000 in late 2008, during the financial crises, to reduce costs.[23]

Mining is carried out at the Main Dome open pit and the underground operations below. The West Dome pit is being mined again.[18]

On 4 December 2013 a contractor was killed at the mine, being crushed by pipe work.[24]

Production[edit]

Production figures for the mine:[18][9][25][26][27][28][29][1]

Gold[edit]

Annual gold production of the mine:

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
1999 314,295 ounces 1.33 g/t A$390
2000 176,000 ounces 1.62 g/t A$494
2001–2003 inactive
2004–05 218,000 ounces
2005–06 650,000 ounces
2006–07 627,000 ounces
2007–08 590,000 ounces
2008–09 629,108 ounces
2009–10 688,909 ounces
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14 536,342 ounces 0.90 g/t $A1,005
2014–15 520,309 ounces na g/t $A791
2015–16 462,461 ounces na g/t $A967
2016–17 386,242 ounces 0.70 g/t A$1,178
2017–18 425,536 ounces 0.71 g/t A$1,262
2018–19 451,991 ounces 0.72 g/t A$1,253
2019–20 393,164 ounces 0.90 g/t A$1,281
2020–21 416,138 ounces 0.89 g/t A$1,473
2021–22 407,550 ounces 0.73 g/t A$1,388
2021–22 349,000 ounces A$1,633

Copper[edit]

Annual copper production of the mine:

Year Production Grade Cost
2004–05 25,000 tonnes
2005–06 38,000 tonnes
2006–07 28,000 tonnes
2007–08 27,000 tonnes
2008–09 32,905 tonnes
2009–10 34,815 tonnes
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14 43,619 tonnes 0.16%
2014–15 23,119 tonnes na%
2015–16 18,940 tonnes na%
2016–17 20,136 tonnes 0.14%
2017–18 16,212 tonnes 0.10%
2018–19 15,025 tonnes 0.09%
2019–20 16,278 tonnes 0.14%
2020–21 13,177 tonnes 0.11%
2021–22 13,904 tonnes 0.09%
2022–23 17,000 tonnes

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Newcrest Mining Annual Report 2023" (PDF). www.newcrest.com. Newcrest. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Newcrest Mining Annual Report 2009" (PDF). Newcrest Mining Limited. 29 September 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  3. ^ "About Newcrest – Our company". Newcrest Mining Limited. 2020. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020. Newcrest is the largest gold producer listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and one of the world's largest gold mining companies.
  4. ^ a b c The Golden Riddle: Finder's Keepers? ABC Radio National, produced by Bronwyn Adcock, broadcast: 6 June 1999, accessed: 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011
  5. ^ Newcrest's Great Sandy speculation The Intelligent Investor, published: 13 April 2005, accessed: 27 January 2010
  6. ^ History – About us, accessed: 4 April 2016
  7. ^ "Full Year Results FY20" (PDF). Melbourne, Victoria: Newcrest Mining. 14 August 2020. p. 7. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Annual Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves Statement - as at 31 December 2020" (PDF). Melbourne, Victoria: Newcrest Mining. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition, page 128, accessed: 27 January 2010
  10. ^ The Golden Rule Book review, author: Bob Sheppard, ISBN 0-85905-311-3, accessed: 27 January 2010
  11. ^ a b c d "Marco Zolezzi, general manager, Telfer gold mine, Western Australia". Australian Mining. 15 September 2004.
  12. ^ a b c History of NCM Archived 2 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Newcrest website, accessed: 27 January 2010
  13. ^ "Elsewhere in precious metals... the second phase of the development". Metals Week. 11 March 1991. p. 8.
  14. ^ "Newcrest upbeat on Telfer mine". Reuters News. 21 June 1996.
  15. ^ "Newcrest cold on Telfer raising". The West Australian. 25 March 2002. p. 28.
  16. ^ Phaceas, John (20 November 2002). "Newcrest nod to invest $1b in Telfer". The West Australian. p. 61.
  17. ^ "Newcrest gets expansion nod". ABC News. 20 August 2002.
  18. ^ a b c d Operations - Telfer Archived 22 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine Newcrest website, accessed: 27 January 2010
  19. ^ Peel, Greg (16 November 2007). "Tantalising Telfer". FN Arena.
  20. ^ Le May, Rebecca (25 January 2008). "Miner loses friends as Telfer costs jump". Finance. The Daily Telegraph. p. 62.
  21. ^ Thompson, Dionne (27 June 2008). "Newcrest's Telfer gold output down 25,000 oz on Apache gas stoppage". Metal Bulletin.
  22. ^ "Telfer gas supply back to normal". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  23. ^ Newcrest to slash mine jobs at its Telfer mine The Australian, published: 24 October 2008, accessed: 27 January 2010
  24. ^ Worker killed at Newcrest's Telfer mine in WA north Australian Broadcasting Corporation, published: 4 December 2013, accessed: 31 December 2013
  25. ^ "Newcrest Mining Quarterly Report June 2018" (PDF). www.newcrest.com. Newcrest. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  26. ^ "Newcrest Mining Quarterly Report June 2019" (PDF). www.newcrest.com. Newcrest. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  27. ^ "Newcrest Mining Quarterly Report June 2021" (PDF). www.newcrest.com. Newcrest. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  28. ^ "Newcrest Mining Annual Report 2021" (PDF). www.newcrest.com. Newcrest. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  29. ^ "Newcrest Mining Annual Report 2022" (PDF). www.newcrest.com. Newcrest. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Louthean, Ross (ed.). The Australian Mines Handbook: 2003-2004 Edition. Louthean Media Pty Ltd.

External links[edit]


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