Drought threat over for Newcrest’s gold mine

Newcrest Mining says any drought threat to its flagship Cadia gold mine in NSW has been alleviated.

Newcrest Mining says any drought threat to its flagship Cadia gold mine in NSW has been alleviated, with the company confident it has enough water to last it through at least two years of production.

Despite recycling about 85 per cent of the water that goes through its plant, Cadia still uses about 30 megalitres of water a day, and Newcrest had said the mine was still at risk of production halts by 2021 if rainfall levels had remained at 1-in-100-year lows, as they had for the previous two years.

But Newcrest said on Wednesday solid rains in the region, and the purchase of new water licences, had alleviated the threat.

“Recent rainfall in the region and the purchase of water licences on the water trading market has resulted in improved levels of water being captured in on site storage facilities. Newcrest’s latest internal modelling indicates that Cadia should have enough water to avoid any water-related production interruption for at least the next two years,” the company said.

“Newcrest will continue to pursue further water saving and optimisation initiatives.”

Evolution Mining said in April the rains, and access to new water sources, had eased its concerns at its Cowal mine, and ASX-listed Aurelia Mining and Aeris Resources, which also operate in western NSW and were under threat from drought conditions, have also said their concerns have been eased by solid rainfall across the region.

In its April update on the drought WaterNSW said that while rainfall had raised the level of water in dams and catchments and improved flow in key regional rivers, it was not yet enough to call the end of drought condition.

“While we have seen rain over the past few months, several more months of above average rainfall is required,” the report said.