Home to substantial gold reserves, Australia is the third-largest gold producer in the world with a long history in the gold mining sector. For this reason, Newmont Corporation, the world’s leading gold company, has been operating within the Australia’s gold mining sector since 2002. Now with over 20 years of experience within Australia’s mining sector, the bulk of its operations here can be broken down into three distinctive mine operations: Boddington, Cadia, and Tanami. Across these mines, Newmont utilises the company’s over a century of expertise in the global mining sector, to deliver vital gold and metal resources for the Australian metals market.
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Some of the most lucrative deposits of gold in Australia are found in the West, where there are a plethora of greenstone belts. Here, Newmont operates the Boddington mine, the largest gold mine in the country based on production, within the Saddleback Greenstone Belt. The mine is a large-scale gold and copper surface mine just 30km from Perth. Commercial production at the mine began in 2009, with the operation reaching 1 million ounces of gold by March 2011. Since it began production, the mine has consistently produced more than 800,000 gold equivalent ounces (GEOs) a year. By 2022, the mine had reached more than 1 million GEOs for the first time in its history, largely thanks to its fully autonomous fleet, which operates within the mine. The fleet, which Newmont invested $150 million in as part of its Autonomous Haulage Project, works across the south pit, which is currently the deepest open pit in the world to deploy such automation technology. However, it is this focus on technological innovation that has long made Newmont a heavyweight in the mining sector.
The development of automation across Newmont’s fleet has significantly reduced the fleet size at Boddington from 46 trucks to just 41 automated vehicles, allowing for a non-segregated haulage network with shorter and more optimised haulage distances. The introduction of automation was part of Newmont’s wider Full Potential program which is designed to encourage new ways of thinking that could push its mines to deliver greater value utilising best practices. The program set out to reduce costs whilst generating productivity improvements, and since 2013, it has generated more than $700 million in value for the mine. Through the program, Newmont has been able to push beyond Boddington’s nameplate capacity of 35 metric tonnes and has processed more than 40 million metric tons whilst adding another 2 years to the mine life. Alongside its significant productivity output, the automated system greatly improves safety and productivity at the mine, making it both an efficient and safety-focused mine delivering significant resources for the future.
The Cadia Mine is another of Australia’s largest gold mining operations and encompasses an underground mine producing both copper and gold. The mine has ore reserves of 15 million ounces (Moz) of gold and 2.6 mega tons (Mt) of copper. The mine site includes the Cadia East Underground Mine, as well as the Cadia Hill Pit Tailing Storage Facility and the Ridgeway Underground Mine, but the latter two are currently on current in care and maintenance. Mining in Cadia East commenced commercial production in 2013, and utilises panel caving mining techniques to access one of the largest gold and copper deposits in the world. Gold is produced in the form of gold doré bars via a gravity circuit and gold-rich copper concentrates from a flotation circuit. In the 2023 fiscal year, Cadia produced 597 thousand ounces (Koz) of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $45 per ounce.
Developing the Cadia mine has been of high importance to Newmont in recent years, with the Panel Cave (PC) 1-2 Feasibility Study approved for execution in November 2022. The project’s PC1 and PC2 are currently being developed to recover a substantial portion of Cadia’s ore reserves, with the first ore from PC 2-3 already delivered. The entire PC1-2 project aims to recover approximately 5.9 million ounces of gold services and 2.9 billion pounds of copper services. This development is expected to continue into the second half of 2026 to deliver significant resources for Newmont from the Cadia mine.
One of the central missions of Newmont Corporation is to create value and improve lives through sustainable and responsible mining. This focus can be clearly seen at the Cadia Mine, as it was awarded both The Copper Mark and The Molybdenum Mark in October 2024. These certifications are awarded to companies to recognise responsible production. For Newmont, this is the first mine site for the company that has received the award. The certification is awarded based on an operation meeting more than 30 criteria in critical areas such as environment, community, human rights, and governance.
Cadia is also the only mine in Australia producing molybdenum, and so is the only mine in the country to be awarded The Molybdenum Mark. In the announcement of the awarding to Cadia, Suzy Retallack, Newmont Chief Safety and Sustainability Officer, outlined, “We take great pride in being at the forefront of the copper industry with The Copper mark, which highlights our dedication to responsible production and transparency. Retallack continues, “This means our global customers can now choose to source copper concentrate from an independently evaluated mine that meets the highest standards in environmental, social, and governance practices, responding to the increasing demand for sustainable supply chains”. Retallack’s comments highlight just how vital this mark and The Molybdenum Mark are for the competitiveness of Newmont’s copper and molybdenum resources for global markets. Customers across the world can source these resources from a mine that is known for operating with sustainability and responsibility at the forefront. This makes Cadia’s resources highly valuable for global supply chains and, in turn, develops Australia’s minerals industry.
The final mine operated by Newmont in Australia is the Tanami mine, where the company has been delivering vital gold resources since 2002. The mine is located in the remote Tanami Desert of Australia, within the Aboriginal freehold land that is owned by the Warlpiri people and managed on their behalf by the Central Desert Aboriginal Lands Trust. The mine is in one of the most remote locations in Australia, and so access to Tanami is via a fly-in-fly-out basis. The mine began operation more than 20 years ago as an open-pit operation, which over the years has been transformed into one of the largest underground gold mines in Australia, with more than 12 million ounces of gold produced.
Like with the other mines operated by Newmont in Australia, the Tanami mine is undergoing expansion works to increase the gold production of the mine. Newmont is currently working on the second expansion of Tanami, with investment towards constructing a 1.5-kilometre-deep production shaft. Tanami Expansion 2 aims to increase the average gold production of the mine from roughly 150,000 -200,000 ounces a year to 600,000 ounces per year for the first five years. Whilst expanding the production capacity, the development also hopes to reduce operating costs by around 10%. The main scope of the expansion involves the construction of a headframe and vertical hoisting shaft to a depth of 1,460m to transport people and ore out of the mine.
As part of the expansion, Newmont entered into a strategic alliance with Caterpillar in 2021 to help deliver a fully connected, automated, zero-carbon-emitting, end-to-end mining system. Thus, with this partnership, Newmont can deliver a more technologically advanced mine to optimise production. Newmont’s partnership with Caterpillar aims to develop new battery electric haulage technology for its underground mining, and following the introduction of battery autonomous technology, which will be an industry first for the mine.
Across all three of Newmont’s mine sites in Australia, the company is focused on delivering vital mineral resources in a sustainable and community-focused way. Newmont is committed to building respectful and mutually beneficial relationships with the communities that surround its operations. By working with local communities, the mines can help deliver long-term economic and social growth. Each mining operation under Newmont has a dedicated community relations team, and through these, Newmont is passionate about maintaining an ongoing dialogue between all stakeholders to ensure positive community growth.
What we can see from Newmont’s operations in Australia is a firm commitment to delivering value through responsible, efficient and community-focused mining operations. Across Boddington, Cadia and Tanami, there is a keen sense of growth to harness the production of gold and copper for today, whilst delivering the infrastructure and techniques to optimise production for many years to come. With some of the largest mining operations under its portfolio in Australia, Newmont is set to deliver vital resources for the country, supported by its expertise on a global scale, to make its supply chains competitive and mining operations technologically advanced.
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