PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining has restarted production at the Panel Cave 2 (PC2) at its Cadia East mine, in New South Wales, after completing a test and response phase.
The miner in June started the testing phase at PC2, after operations were suspended in April owing to a seismic event.
ASX-listed Newcrest said on Wednesday that the test and response phase involved drawing some 480 000 t of ore, while monitoring ongoing seismic response levels to ensure that they remained within expected range and limits. The ore drawn during this phase was transported by the underground conveyor system to surface, where it was processed.
Newcrest told shareholders that remediation and upgrade work on ground support continued at Panel Cave 1 (PC1), and mining was on track to start in the September quarter.
The PC1 crusher remains the subject of a prohibition notice, pending the completion of the work outlined in the restart plan as part of the start-up of PC2.
Newcrest reportedly invested some A$25-million to rehabilitate and upgrade the Cadia East operation following the seismic event.