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GOLD MINERS ROUNDUP
approvals to allow construction of the dam to its full height. Brick lining of all four autoclaves was completed. Nearly all of the concrete has been poured, about 95% of the steel has been erected and more than 7.6 million mt of ore has been stockpiled. As part of a longer-term, optimized power solution for Pueblo Viejo, a plan is under way to build a $300 million dual-fuel power plant. The new plant is expected to provide lower cost, longer term power to the project. Sitting on the border between Chile and Argentina, Pascua-Lama is expected to achieve first production in mid-2013. Average annual gold production is expect- ed to be 800,000-850,000 oz in its first full five years of operation at negative total cash costs of $225-$275/oz, assuming a silver price of $25/oz. Average annual sil- ver production for the first full five years is expected to be about 35 million oz. Barrick has targeted growth in produc- tion to approximately 9 million oz of gold within the next five years.
Newmont Brings Gold Quarry Back Online
Newmont Mining Corp. expects to produce 5.1 to 5.3 million oz of gold at $560- $590/oz during 2011. Potentially lower grades due to mine sequencing at Gold Quarry and lower grades at Exodus in Nevada are impacting production and the Boddington mine in Australia has seen an increase in operating costs.
In North America, gold production from
Newmont's Nevada operations decreased 6% due to lower mill grade ore and throughput, partially offset by higher leach placement and recoveries. Open-pit ore tons mined increased 167% as the reme- diation of the Gold Quarry pit slope failure was completed. The Yanacocha mine in Peru is expect- ed to produce 650,000 to 670,000 oz at a cost of $560-$600/oz.
Boddington produced 166,000 oz dur- ing the third quarter. Gold production decreased due to lower mill grade, but was partially offset by higher mill throughput. Costs continue to increase due to the lower gold grade, higher royalty costs and diesel prices. Some of the increase was partially offset by higher by-product credits. Batu Hijau in Indonesia produced 66,000 oz during the third quarter, a decrease of 37% from the same period last year. The company attributed the decrease to lower mill grade, throughput and recov- ery as a result of processing more stock-
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piled material compared to higher grade Phase 5 ore in 2010 and the completion of mill motor replacements. Waste tons mined increased 104% as Phase 6 waste removal continues as planned.
Newmont expects 2011 attributable gold production for Batu Hijau of approxi- mately 140,000 to 160,000 oz at CAS of between $440 and $460/oz.
The Ahafo in Ghana produced 146,000 oz at cash cost of $501/oz dur- ing the third quarter, a 6% decrease. Again, lower mill grades were partially off- set by higher recovery. In addition to the lower production, costs were also pushed higher by increased labor, diesel and royal- ty costs. Newmont expects Ahafo to pro- duce 560,000 to 590,000 oz in 2011 at a cost of $470-$500/oz.
Newmont invested nearly $3 billion in operations in 2011 much of it (40%) asso- ciated with major project initiatives, including further development of the Akyem project in Ghana, the Conga project in Peru, Hope Bay in Canada, and the Nevada project portfolio.
Weather and Safety Impact AngloGold Ashanti
AngloGold Ashanti is implementing a new operating model to improve productivity across 20 mines and a portfolio of devel- opment projects. Its Continental Africa operations posted some great numbers last year, with Geita in Tanzania being the largest contributor at 149,000 oz at a cash cost of $473/oz. Geita experienced a "once-off" benefit of higher-grade feed to compensate for the SAG mill shutdown. The company also noted strong perform- ances at Iduapriem in Ghana and from the Americas, where Cerro Vanguardia in Argentina was once again a standout as the group's most efficient producer.
Drought continued to impact produc- tion at Cripple Creek in Colorado, while Sunrise Dam's recovery from Australian flooding in the first half of the year was again slower than anticipated, as was the ramp-up of production following the five- day wage-related strike at the South African operations. In addition, winter power tar- iffs, higher wages, increased royalties and lower by-product credits also contributed to cost pressure in South Africa. Tragically, three fatalities were recorded in South Africa. The company continues to invest in improving its long-term safety per- formance, with the benchmark all injury fre- quency rate of 9.51 per million hours, the lowest in the company's history. All of this this translated to a fourth quarter estimated production of approximately 1.1 million oz at a total cash cost of approximately $790/oz. Given the increased safety stoppages in South Africa, the ongoing water shortages at Cripple Creek and the slower ramp up at Sunrise Dam, full year 2011 production is now estimated to be around 4.3 million oz in 2011. Total cash costs are estimated at between $735-$745/oz on the basis of slightly weaker local operating currency assumptions for the year.
Gold Fields Suffers Production Disruptions Gold Fields Ltd. expects to produce 3.5 million gold equivalent oz (geo) in 2011. Total cash costs are expected to be about $800/oz. Production decreased during the fourth quarter of 2011 as a result of dis- ruptions in Ghana due to power outages and a slower milling rate at Tarkwa. In the South Africa region, production was im- pacted by stop and fix interventions at Beatrix and a lower underground grade at South Deep due to changes in the mining mix needed to increase flexibility. Gold
Top 10 Gold Mining Companies* Country
Barrick Gold Newmont Mining
AngloGold Ashanti** Gold Fields**
Newcrest Mining** Kinross Gold Goldcorp
Polyus Gold Harmony Gold Mining**
Canada USA
South Africa South Africa Australia Canada Canada Russia
South Africa Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold USA Production (M oz)
2011e 2010 7.8 5.2 4.3 3.5 2.6 2.6 2.5 1.5 1.4 1.4
7.8 5.4 4.5 3.6 2.9 2.3 2.5 1.4 1.4 1.9
*Publicly traded gold mining companies, does not include Navoi Mining (Uzbekistan) **Operates on a FY.
FEBRUARY 2012 • E&MJ; 29 Reserves
2009 (M oz) 7.4 5.3 4.9 3.5 1.7 1.8 2.4 1.2 1.6 2.6
139.8 093.5 071.4 077.0 080.0 062.4 048.8 088.6 048.1 035.5
