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10
Mining Magazine 
May 2006
AUSTRALIA
BoddingtonSuper PitPajingoTanami Yandal
Western AustraliaTasmaniaNorthernTerritory 
DarwinTanamiKalgooriePerthAdelaideMelbourneCanberraSydney0 800kmBrisbane
Newmontoperations
MINE OF THE MONTH – BODDINGTON
T
HE development decision at Boddingtonfollows the acquisition in mid-Februaryby Newmont Mining Corp of the 22.22%share in Boddington Gold Mine (BGM) heldby Newcrest Mining Ltd for A$225 million(US$1=A$1.36). This lifted the US company’s equity to66.7% (South African-based AngloGold Ashanti Ltdholds the remaining 33.3% of Boddington). The mineand processing plant are expected to take two yearsto construct.The operation, which lies130 km southeast of Perth, willbe based on an update to a five-year-old feasibility study that waspresented to the joint-venturepartners last December. The mineis expected to produce 1 Moz/yover the first five years of opera-tions, with an overall averageover the 15-year-plus mine lifeof 850,000 oz/y. The life-of-mineoperating cost is put at US$210/oz, net of by-product credits.The expansion project willexploit basement rock fromunderneath the existing oxide pit.The initial mine plan is based on proven and prob-able reserves totalling 403 Mt, at an average grade of 0.90 g/t Au and 0.12% Cu, for contained reserves of  just over 11.6 Moz and 480,000 t of copper. Newmontanticipates a copper recovery of 83%. There areadditional resources of 144 Mt measured and indi-cated, at 0.58 g/t Au and 0.08% Cu.Under the management of Worsley Alumina(which operates the nearby Worsley bauxite mine),the overlying oxide mineralisation at Boddington wasexploited from 1987 until the end of 2001. Product-ion in 2001 totalled 234,000 oz. The project was takenover by AngloGold, Newcrest and Newmont (whichhad meanwhile acquired original owner NormandyMining) in late 2002. Newmont recently took overproject management.Announcing the go-ahead, Wayne Murdy,Newmont’s chief executive, said: “We believe theexploration opportunities at Boddington hold thepotential to ultimately double reserves.”
EOLOGY
ver the past few years, BGM’s exploration effortsave focused on identifying all remaining oxide oreor the current milling facility and resource develop-ent for the Boddington expansion project. Miningperations ceased at the end of November 2001,fter all known economic oxide gold resources hadeen processed. However, exploration has success-ully identified a 19.6 Moz gold bedrock resource, theasis of the expansion project.The Boddington mine lies within the Saddleback -unded sliver of ,ow level intrusiveallrrounded by granitic, suneissic rocks. The
 
ghas produced overGBoz of gold and is6ighly prospectivea hexploration areafor further goldmineralisation inboth large-tonnageck-work gold resourc-
 
toes and high-gradelode-type goldresources.BGM owners areitted to a continuingration presence in the
 
lond have substantiala ament holdings avail-neable, including thatmanaged on behalf of the BGM-Alcoa
New beginning
At the start of March, the partners in the Boddingtonproject in Western Australia gave the go-ahead for anoperation costing US$1.5 billion
Boddington Gold Mine, PO Box 48Boddington WA 6390Tel: +61 (0)8 9883 8260Fax: +61 (0)8 9883 4208Construction of the original operation atBoddington was managed by Hatch in aproject which began in October 1986 and wascompleted in July 1989. The orebody was minedby open-pit methods, with a 3 Mt/y throughputfor an expected mine life of 15 years. The waterrequirements were met by a dam built on Thirty-four Mile Brook, supplemented by water pumpedfrom the Hotham River.The extraction process involved primary andsecondary crushing, ball milling, carbon-in-leachextraction, elution of the loaded carbon, elec-trowinning of gold, then smelting and casting asbullion.
ORIGINAL PROJECT
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