Newmont Mining Corp. has announced that its Akyem gold project in Ghana and its Phoenix copper leach project in Nevada have safely achieved commercial production on schedule and on budget. Newmont CEO Gary Goldberg said both projects heralded great promise for the Colorado-based miner.
“Akyem is a core asset that will deliver profitable gold production at competitive costs, and the copper we produce at Phoenix from what was once classified as waste will improve our copper cost position,” Goldberg said.
Of Akyem’s $950 million development capital, $920 million was incurred through Q4 2013 while the first five-year average annual gold production of 350,000 to 450,000 oz represented costs applicable to sales of $500/oz to $650/oz. First five-year average all-in sustaining costs stood at $750/oz to $850/oz, while 2013’s attributable gold production outlook was 50,000 oz to 100,000 oz.
Of Phoenix Copper Leach’s estimated development capital of approximately $175 million, $156 million was incurred through Q3 2013 and the first five-year average annual copper production of approximately 20 million lb represented costs applicable to sales of $1.75/lb to $2/lb. The attributable copper production for 2013, meanwhile, yielded an outlook of 4 to 5 million lb.
Akyem is a large, open-pit mine 180 km northwest of the capital city of Accra in Ghana’s eastern region; Ghana is Africa’s No. 2 gold producer after South Africa. At Q4 2012, the project had proven and probable reserves of 7.4 million oz and an estimated life of 16 years.
The Phoenix Copper Leach project is an expansion of the Phoenix mine 16 miles south of Battle Mountain, Nevada. The project recovers copper from waste material through leaching and processing at a solvent extraction/electrowining (SX/EW) facility. At Q4 2012, the project had proven and probable reserves of 740 million lb and an estimated mine life of 20 years.
