Wafi golpu
http://www.morobejv.com
gold, copper
Phone:
Address:
Po Box 4014 Awilunga Estate, Papua New Guinea, PNG, 411
State: Po Box 4014 Awilunga Estate, Papua New Guinea, PNG, 411
Email:
The Wafi-Golpu copper gold mining project is located about 65 kilometres south west of Lae, in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. Lae is the second largest city in Papua New Guinea and an important industrial hub.
Wafi-Golpu Project Owned by Newcrest Mining and Harmony Gold
The Wafi-Golpu Project is owned as a joint venture between Newcrest Mining, with 50 percent interest, and Harmony Gold with the other 50 percent. The joint venture is known as WGJV (Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture).It is one of three unincorporated joint ventures formed in 2008 between the two companies which are known as Morobe Mining Joint Ventures (MMJV). At any time before actual mining commences, the Papua New Guinea Government has a legal right to purchase up to 30 percent shareholding in the joint venture, as its prorata share of historical costs.Exploration has been undertaken in the Wafi-Golpu region since the 1970's.Wafi-Golpu is a World Class Deposit to be Mined by Underground Methods
Since 2008 the WGJV have undertaken deep drilling programs at the WafiGolpu Project site that has identified a world class porphyry ore body that is considered suitable to be mined by means of bulk underground mining methods, in much the same way that Newcrest mine their Cadia Valley mining operation in Australia.Wafi-Golpu Feasibility Study to be Undertaken in 2015
In December, 2014, the two joint venture partners gave their approval for the first stage of the Golpu Project to proceed into the Feasibility Study stage in 2015, as the optimised Golpu Pre-Feasibility Study of 2012 had been completed and its recommendations were now being undertaken.Wafi-Golpu Project to be Developed in Stages
The 2012 optimised Golpu Pre-Feasibility Study proposed that Stage One of Golpu's development should proceed with production commencing during 2020. Stage One development would be designed to target the higher grade section of the deposit with the construction of two block caves. This is anticipated to give Golpu a mining life of around 27 years. The ore mined during this stage would be taken to an on surface processing plant to be built nearby which would produce a gold-copper concentrate. Annual production from this stage of development would be expected to peak at around 2025 with a level of 150,000 tonnes of copper and 320,000 ounces of gold being produced.During the first half of 2015 the joint venture partners will announce their decision on the construction of an exploration decline at the WafiGolpu Project site, however, the commencement of this project will be subjected to the company first receiving approval from the Papua New Guinea Government. Both the optimised 2012 Golpu Pre-Feasibility Study recommendations for Stage Two and the Stage One Feasibility Study are due to be completed by December 2015, as will the focus on how best to proceed with the mining of the rest of the substantial ore body.
The Wafi-Golpu mineral province includes the Nambonga and Golpu copper-gold porphyry and the Wafi epithermal gold deposit, as well as other considerable exploration tenements. The Golpu deposit is the largest to be discovered to date with a mineral resource of one billion tonnes that contains nine million tonnes of copper and 20 million ounces of gold. It has reserves of 5.4 million tonnes of contained copper and 12.4 million ounces of contained gold. The Wafi epithermal deposit has a mineral resource of 7.2 million ounces of contained gold and the Nambonga porphyry deposit has a mineral reserve of 86,000 tonnes of contained copper and one million ounces of contained gold.
