Newcrest uses a range of advanced processing techniques including waste rejection, lower energy comminution and geo-metallurgy approaches.

Waste rejection

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:

• low energy processing with business applications at Lihir, Cadia and Telfer; aimed at halving the energy consumed to liberate gold. Next steps include adapting and adopting mine to mill waste rejection
• future geo-metallurgy ore testing capabilities across all our mines.

Energy efficient processing

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:

• inform flow sheet design
• more accurately size equipment
• assist in plant design
• optimise plant performance
• forecast production
• reduce risk during feasibility, production and operation.