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Operations
Operations Overview
Newcrest has a number of long-life, predominantly low-cost assets in Australia, the Pacific and Asia with a substantial resource and reserve base to underpin future gold production. The company's operations produced 2.7 million ounces of gold and almost 76 thousand tonnes of copper during the 2011 financial year and current gold reserves represent more than 25 years production.
Newcrest's asset portfolio includes eight operating mines located in four countries; Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and West Africa. Three major prospects with significant metal endowments, namely Wafi-Golpu in PNG, Namosi in Fiji and O'Callaghans in Western Australia are also currently being evaluated.
A variety of efficient and low cost bulk mining methods for large orebodies are used together with selective underground mining methods to optimise high-grade epithermal deposits. Newcrest has experience in developing and commissioning both large scale and smaller operations.
The company is currently undertaking two major brownfield expansion projects. The Cadia East Project will be Australia's largest underground mine and will underpin production from the Cadia Valley province for at least the next 30 years and the Lihir plant expansion known as the Million Ounce Plant Upgrade, is due for completion by the end of 2013 and is expected to increase gold production to in excess of 1 million ounces per year over the life of the operation at Lihir.
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