Ridgeway

The Ridgeway gold deposit was discovered in late 1996. It was found to exist 500 metres below the surface three kilometres north west of Cadia Hill. Mining commenced at Ridgeway in 2000 with the ore being processed at the Cadia Hill gold treatment plant until the Ridgeway treatment plant was completed in 2002. The Ridgeway gold treatment plant was originally able to treat four million tonnes of gold bearing ore a year although this capacity has since been increased to 5.6 million tonnes of ore annually. The mine is one of the largest underground gold mines in Australia and widely recognised as being one of the most efficient gold mining operations in the world.

Ridgeway Gold Mine is Part of Newcrests Cadia Valley Operation
The Ridgeway underground gold mine is part of the Cadia Valley Operations (CVO) and fully owned by Newcrest Mining Limited. It is located 250 kilometres west of Sydney and 25 kilometres from the Central West regional centre of Orange. The Cadia Valley Operations consist of three gold mines; the Cadia Hill open pit and the Cadia East and Ridgeway underground mines. The Ridgeway mine is worked by means of a block and panel caving method of underground mining.

Ridgeway Mine is now known as Ridgeway Deeps Mine
Mining at the Ridgeway underground mine has undergone transition to the Ridgeway Deeps deposit. Ridgeway Deeps is located below the original Ridgeway gold deposit that was initially exploited. The development of Ridgeway Deeps is the second stage of development at the mine that has ensured longevity of the Cadia Valley Operations well into the future. Ridgeway Deeps is estimated to be able to produce more than 2.8 million ounces of gold over the next 12 years. It took two years to complete the transition from Ridgeway to Ridgeway Deeps.

Ridgeway Deeps has Large Number of Autonomous Systems
The Ridgeway Deeps underground mine is worked by means of a large number of autonomous systems, one of which is the Sandvik Automine. This innovation automates the handling of underground loaders. The mine also uses Transmin Rocklogic technology for the breaking of rocks. Transmin developed the automation system of pedestal rock breaking in 2011. The Ridgeway Deeps Mine was the first mine to have the system installed as it provides remote operation and collision avoidance.

Ridgeway Mine Workers Represented by AWU
Ridgeway mine workers are represented by the Australian Workers Union (AWU) that reached an enterprise agreement with Newcrest in 2012, known as the Cadia Valley Operations Enterprise Agreement. The milestone agreement received approval from Fair Work Australia in November 2012 and is due to expire in November 2016. The Australian Workers Union is now the workers legal representative. This is the first agreement the union has had with Newcrest at the Cadia-Ridgeway gold mine.

The gold treatment plant at the Cadia Valley Operation produces gold Dore with the use of a gravity circuit and gold/copper concentrate from a flotation circuit. The gold dore is refined at the Perth Mint. The gold/copper concentrate is piped to a de-watering facility at Blayney after which it is sent by rail to Port Kembla from where it is exported to mainly eastern Asian countries. At June, 30, 2013 the Cadia Valley Operation had produced 53,912 tonnes of copper and 446,879 ounces of gold during the previous 12 months. Since the mine commenced operations in 1999 it has produced 7.5 million ounces of gold.
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