Photo by: Bloombeg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Newcrest Mining will retain ownership of its Telfer openpit mine, in Western Australia, but is hoping to move to contract mining at the operation.
In February, the miner flagged the possible sale of the mine, after reviews found that a lower cost-base would be required to support future cutback investments at the mine.
After completing a future options review at Telfer, Newcrest made the decision to retain the asset but to improve performance and lower operating costs, as an optimised mine plan and lower Australian dollar all positively contributed to the mine’s viability.
Newcrest reported on Wednesday that the company had now entered into discussions with a number of shortlisted contractors regarding the potential for contract mining and mobile maintenance at the Telfer operation.
The miner said any decision to proceed with contract mining at Telfer would be subject to a comprehensive review of the safety performance of the prospective contractors, as well as final negotiations.
It would make a final decision on this before the end of the calendar year.