Boddington

The reopened Boddington gold mine, 17 kilometres from the town of Boddington in Western Australia, poured its first gold in September 2009 and by March 2011 had produced one million ounces of gold. The year before (2010) it has produced 728,000 ounces of gold. Boddington is Australia's newest gold mine that is sitting on reserves of 20 million ounces.

The Boddington Mine First Opened in 1987 but was Closed in 2001

Boddington is a large open cut mine that originally began production in 1987 but it was closed near the end of 2001 when the then known resource had expired. At this time the mine was owned by Normandy Mining, Acacia Resources and Newcrest Mining. The Newmont Mining Corporation acquired the majority Normandy share in 2002 when AngloGold brought out Acacia. Newmont acquired the Newcrest share in 2005.

Expansion Makes it the Largest Gold Mine in Australia

A mine expansion project was begun in May 2006 that, when completed, would make it the highest producing gold mine in Australia. Early in 2009 Newmont Mining Corporation acquired the AngloGold shareholding making the Boddington Mine 100 percent owned by Newmont and it was now ready for re-opening and all was in readiness for it to become Australia's largest gold mine.

Boddington gold mine re-opened on July 23, 2009, with an expected life of 20 years. It was immediately on track to produce 1,000,000 ounces of gold each year and the official re-opening took place on February 3, 2010. The first million ounce target was reached in March the following year (2011).

Mining Contract Awarded to Macmahon

In August 2011 it was announced that mining contractor Macmahon had been awarded the mining and ore re-handling services at the Boddington Mine. Macmahon's contract involves removing all the overburden and stockpiling bauxite on behalf of Newmont Mining. Macmahon also carries out all the open pit mining as well as readying the ore for the crusher feed before it is fed into the processing plant. Macmahon also undertakes work in the Boddington south pit by mining ore for stockpiling and crusher feed. They also carry out pit development ahead of Newmont's shovels where the site is too narrow for the shovels to begin work.

Boddington Life of Mine Extended to 2052

The Boddington gold mine now employs 900 workers and has plans to extend the operation further. The combining of the south and north Wandoo open cuts promise to extend the life of mine to 2052 as well as increase the waste rock facility to two billion metric tonnes. The new mine is on the same site as the original Boddington gold mine.

Copper Production Also Substantial

Copper production at the Boddington Mine is also quite substantial. It is sold as a concentrate and produces 30,000 tonnes each year. In 2009 the mine produced nine million pounds of copper and in 2011, 69 million pounds.

The processing plant at the Boddington Mine treats the ore after it has been coarsely crushed. It receives the ore from the ROM stockpile from a conveyor. Once at the treatment facility it is crushed again and ground down to make a slurry. It is first processed by flotation which turns it into a gold/copper concentrate containing about 18 percent copper. The fine liberated gold is recovered by means of a gravity circuit before dewatering and storage. The concentrate is then sent to the smelters. The gold recovered from the flotation tailings is obtained via a carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit.