Boddington gold mine

The Boddington gold mine is a gold and copper mine located 13 km (8.1 mi) northwest of Boddington, Western Australia.

Boddington
Boddington gold mine
Location
Boddington gold mine is located in Western Australia
Boddington gold mine
Boddington gold mine
Location in Western Australia
LocationBoddington
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates32°45′07″S 116°21′00″E
Production
ProductsGold, copper
Production
  • 798,000 ozt (24,800 kg) gold
  • 84,000,000 lb (38,000,000 kg) copper
Financial year2022[1]
TypeOpen pit
History
Opened1987 (1987)
Active28
Owner
CompanyNewmont Goldcorp
WebsiteOfficial website

Officially reopened on 3 February 2010, the mine has now become Australia's largest gold mine, eclipsing the Super Pit.[2] In the 2018 financial year, Boddington gold mine produced 709 thousand troy ounces (22.1 tonnes) of gold and 77 million pounds (35 thousand tonnes) of copper.[3]: 43  Reserves at 31 December 2018 were reported as 12.4 million troy ounces (390 tonnes) of gold and 1,250 million pounds (570 thousand tonnes) of copper.[3]: 43  At 2018 production rates, this equates to reserves for 17.5 years of gold production and 16.2 years of copper production. That is, until 27 June 2036 and 26 March 2035 respectively.

As of 2022, Boddington is Australia's biggest producing gold mine.[4]

History

A large open-cut mining operation, it commenced in 1987 and ceased mining on 30 November 2001 after the known oxide ore resource had been processed.[5]

Partly owned by Normandy Mining (44.44%), Acacia Resources (33.33%) and Newcrest Mining (22.23%), the Normandy share was acquired by Newmont when it took over the company in 2002, while AngloGold took over Acacia.

In 2005, Newcrest sold its interest in Boddington for A$225 million, also to Newmont Mining.[6]

A bedrock resource of almost 20 million troy ounces (620 million grams) was identified and expansion of the facility to allow mining and processing of basement rock was approved in 2002. Construction on the expansion project began in May 2006. At the time it was projected that once the mine achieves full nameplate throughput it would become Australia's largest gold mine.[7]

On 29 January 2009, Newmont announced that it had raised $1.5 billion to acquire AngloGold's ownership position of 33% in the mine and thus became sole owner. Now fully owned by Newmont Goldcorp, the mine reopened in 2009 after a major expansion project that increased the throughput to become Australia's largest gold mine.

In 2005, EPCM contract was awarded to Clough. In 2006, the EPCM contract was awarded to Aker Kvaerner. In 2010, ThyssenKrupp Robins had set up the High Pressure Grinding Rolls using the drive system provided by ABB. The Environmental impact statement for the most recent expansion in 2013 was developed by Strategen Environmental Consultants. Macmohan was assigned for the gold mining operations.[8]

The official startup was on 23 July 2009, with the mine estimated at the time to have a 20-year life producing more than 1 million troy ounces (31 million grams) of gold per year.[9][10] The official opening of the mine was on 3 February 2010, conducted by Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett.[2]

Newmont Mining's first 1 million troy ounces (31 million grams) at Boddington was achieved in March 2011.[11]

The mine is within the Saddleback Greenstone Belt, an Archaean structure in the southwestern Yilgarn Craton.[12]

Production

Gold

Annual gold production of the mine:[5][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][1]

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
1999 231,695 ounces 0.89 g/t A$332
2000 228,859 ounces 0.89 g/t A$371
2001 227,171 ounces 0.97 g/t A$376
Jan - Sep 2002 4,235 ounces
2003–2009 inactive
2009 122,000 ounces 0.907 g/t US$468
2010 728,000 ounces 0.851 g/t US$590
2011 741,000 ounces 0.737 g/t US$682
2012 724,000 ounces 0.709 g/t US$877
2013 704,000 ounces 0.680 g/t US$1,083
2014 696,000 ounces 0.624 g/t US$972
2015 794,000 ounces 0.680 g/t US$799
2016 800,000 ounces 0.652 g/t US$775
2017 787,000 ounces 0.624 g/t US$835
2018 709,000 ounces 0.539 g/t US$786
2019 703,000 ounces 0.539 g/t US$809
2020 670,000 ounces 0.609 g/t US$1,094
2021 696,000 ounces 0.651 g/t US$1,083
2022 798,000 ounces 0.801 g/t US$921

Copper

Annual copper production of the mine:[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][1]

Year Production Grade
2009 10,000,000 pounds 0.14%
2010 58,000,000 pounds 0.12%
2011 69,000,000 pounds 0.13%
2012 67,000,000 pounds 0.13%
2013 66,000,000 pounds 0.13%
2014 69,000,000 pounds 0.12%
2015 79,000,000 pounds 0.13%
2016 77,000,000 pounds 0.13%
2017 80,000,000 pounds 0.13%
2018 77,000,000 pounds 0,12%
2019 64,000,000 pounds 0.10%
2020 56,000,000 pounds 0.08%
2021 71,000,000 pounds 0.11%
2022 84,000,000 pounds 0.14%

See also

References
  1. "Newmont Regional Operating Statistics Q4 2022" (PDF). s24.q4cdn.com. Newmont. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  2. Barnett to open Boddington Gold Mine ABC News, published: 3 February 2010, accessed: 9 February 2010
  3. 2018 Annual Report and Form 10-K (PDF) (Report). Delaware: Newmont Mining Corporation. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. Lucas, Jarrod (5 March 2023). "Foreign ownership of gold mines would rise above 50pc if Newmont-Newcrest deal goes ahead, analyst says". ABC Goldfields. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  5. The Australian Mines Handbook - 2003-04 Edition page: 71
  6. History of NCM Archived 2 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Newcrest website, accessed: 27 January 2010
  7. "Boddington Gold Mine, Perth, Australia". mining-technology.com. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  8. "Boddington Gold-Copper Mine". digiscend.com. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  9. "Western Australia's Boddington Project Commences". Newmont Mining Corporation. Archived from the original on 24 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  10. "Newmont's million ounce monster". Mining News. 26 November 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  11. First Million Ounces Archived 6 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine Newmont website, accessed: 5 February 2013
  12. Boddington, Western Australia Archived 20 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine Newmont website, accessed: 20 December 2009
  13. "Newmont Regional Operating Statistics Q4 2010" (PDF). s24.q4cdn.com. Newmont. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  14. "Newmont Regional Operating Statistics Q4 2011" (PDF). s24.q4cdn.com. Newmont. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  15. "Newmont Regional Operating Statistics Q4 2013" (PDF). s24.q4cdn.com. Newmont. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  16. "Newmont Regional Operating Statistics Q4 2015" (PDF). s24.q4cdn.com. Newmont. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  17. "Newmont Regional Operating Statistics Q4 2017" (PDF). s24.q4cdn.com. Newmont. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  18. "Newmont Regional Operating Statistics Q4 2019" (PDF). s24.q4cdn.com. Newmont. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  19. "Newmont Regional Operating Statistics Q4 2021" (PDF). s24.q4cdn.com. Newmont. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

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