Newcrest reopens Cadia gold mine after dam wall collapse
Newcrest has resumed processing at its Cadia gold mine after a tailings dam wall collapse last month forced a shutdown at the NSW operation.
Newcrest has resumed processing at its Cadia gold mine after a tailings dam wall collapse last month forced a shutdown at the NSW operation.
The gold miner said that while a prohibition issued by the NSW Resources Regulator remained in place on its northern tailings facility, where the slump occurred, processing at its southern tailings facility has resumed and precautions have been implemented.
“Processing is currently at a run rate of approximately 8mtpa due to limitations in infrastructure to the southern tailings facility,” Newcrest said in a statement to the ASX. “Increased monitoring has been implemented, with new real-time radar monitoring scanning the length of the wall for ground movement every 30 minutes, coupled with daily physical geotechnical inspections and regular drone surveys to verify the integrity of the wall.”
Mining at the facility recommenced last week.
In March, Newcrest flagged a full-year production downgrade following the mine’s shutdown.
But it said yesterday it was too early to issue an updated guidance. The company said an evaluation of the cause of last month’s embankment slump was continuing but as a precaution, construction of a temporary containment bund has begun and is expected to be completed in the next two weeks.
Last month, Newcrest said it was looking into alternative tailings sites including at the Cadia Hill open pit, where mining has ceased. Newcrest said its permit to use the bottom 200m of the 500m-deep pit for tailings storage is under way and that its use, in conjunction with the southern tailings facility, would provide enough storage to enable Cadia to return to full production.
An initial review found that tailings would be fully contained within the pit without risk of release to adjacent waterways.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Hissey noted the timing of a full recovery for Newcrest remained uncertain. “The restart of the plant is sooner than we had anticipated, although we caution that it may well still be several months before normalised rates can be realised”.
“Headlines such as this should help in removing some of the residual overhang which has seen Newcrest underperform local peers over the last month or so; however, this will not resolve the obvious concentration of earnings from such an important asset which has now experienced two significant, unforeseen incidents within the last 12 months,” Mr Hissey said. Newcrest shares closed up 49c at $20.05.
Additional reporting: AAP