Newcrest Mining said that its board has approved an investment of A$214m ($138m) for the West Dome Stage 8 cutback at its fully-owned Telfer gold-copper mine operations in Western Australia.
The investment includes the costs for mine operation and A$73m ($51m) of capitalised production stripping.
The West Dome Stage 8 cutback is located nearby the West Dome Stage 2 and West Dome Stage 5 pits.
According to the Australian mining company, the cutback is expected to produce its first ore in the December 2022 quarter. The cutback project will extend the Telfer gold-copper mine operations into early FY2025.
Newcrest Mining managing director and CEO Sandeep Biswas said: “We are delighted to further extend the life of our Telfer operation, highlighting our ability to maximise the full potential of our assets through our strong technical expertise.
“Telfer is strategically positioned in the highly prospective Paterson Province and we are continuing to progress several potential options to expand the resource base in the open pits and underground to unlock additional value.”
Located in the Great Sandy Desert of the Pilbara region, the Telfer project consists of the Main Dome, West Dome open pits and underground mines.
The Telfer asset produces gold and copper through a dual train, comminution circuit, which is followed by flotation and cyanide circuits, that produce gold doré as well as a copper-gold concentrate.
The produced gold-copper concentrates are shifted to Port Hedland and exported to multiple smelters, while the gold doré from the Telfer mine is refined at the Perth Mint in Western Australia.
Telfer is expected to produce 355,000 to 405,000 ounces of gold in FY23 while maintaining production stripping from $55m to $75m.
Last year, Newcrest Mining announced an investment of A$246m ($159m) to develop the West Dome Stage 5 cutback at the Telfer operations.
