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
Location in Australia
LocationBoddington
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates32°44′15.99″S 116°21′34.76″E
Production
ProductsGold, copper
Production
  • 709,000 ozt (22,100 kg) gold
  • 77,000,000 lb (35,000,000 kg) copper
Financial year2018
TypeOpen pit
History
Opened1987 (1987)
Active25
Owner
CompanyNewmont Goldcorp
Websitewww.newmontgoldcorp.com

Officially reopened on 3 February 2010, the mine has now become Australia's largest gold mine, eclipsing the Super Pit.[1] 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.[2]: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.[2]: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.

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.[3]

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 the Boddington mine for A$225 million, also to Newmont Mining.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7][8] The official opening of the mine was on 3 February 2010, conducted by Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett.[1]

Newmont Mining's first 1 million troy ounces (31 million grams) at Boddington was achieved in March 2011.[9]

The mine is within the Saddleback Greenstone Belt, an Archaean structure in the southwestern Yilgarn Craton.[10]

Production
Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
1999[3] 231,695 ounces 0.89 g/t A$332
2000[3] 228,859 ounces 0.89 g/t A$371
2001[3] 227,171 ounces 0.97 g/t A$376
Jan - Sep 2002[3] 4,235 ounces
2003–2009 inactive
2010

See also

References
  1. Barnett to open Boddington Gold Mine ABC News, published: 3 February 2010, accessed: 9 February 2010
  2. 2018 Annual Report and Form 10-K (PDF) (Report). Delaware: Newmont Mining Corporation. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  3. The Australian Mines Handbook - 2003-04 Edition page: 71
  4. History of NCM Archived 2 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Newcrest website, accessed: 27 January 2010
  5. "Boddington Gold Mine, Perth, Australia". mining-technology.com. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  6. "Boddington Gold-Copper Mine". digiscend.com. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  7. "Western Australia's Boddington Project Commences". Newmont Mining Corporation. Archived from the original on 24 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  8. "Newmont's million ounce monster". Mining News. 26 November 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  9. First Million Ounces Archived 6 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine Newmont website, accessed: 5 February 2013
  10. Boddington, Western Australia Archived 20 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine Newmont website, accessed: 20 December 2009
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