Newcrest uses a range of advanced processing techniques including waste rejection, lower energy comminution and geo-metallurgy approaches.
Newcrest is working to reject waste from ore streams to be processed, materially reducing power and water use, increasing gold and copper recoveries, adopting waste disposal at mine source, increasing tailing dam life and increasing metal production capability.
New flexible processing strategies are being adapted and developed and energy savings have been made by discarding the tougher rock. Other field prototypes like scalping after the primary crusher or inline pressure jigging before the ball mill are being explored.
Newcrest’s key activities include:
Newcrest is developing a range of techniques to reduce overall processing energy intensity.
Geo-metallurgy
Newcrest is adopting, adapting and developing geo-metallurgy capabilities to improve processing performance. In many ways this is about making the old new again as well as adopting new approaches. By applying geo-metallurgy to Newcrest operations to augment traditional metallurgical techniques, we can obtain more accurate data for development and operation of mines. The information can be used to: