OceanaGold to start underground development at Nueva Vizcaya mine
September 15, 2014 at 11:06
Posted on September 12, 2014 07:09:00 PM
AUSTRALIAN miner OceanaGold Corporation announced Friday that its first underground development in Didipio copper-gold project in Nueva Vizcaya is expected to begin early next year, following the preliminary results of the company’s optimization study.
“Commencing the underground operation earlier than originally planned enables faster access to the high grade ore that resides in the underground reserves of the ore body,” said OceanaGold Managing Director and CEO Mick Wilkes.
“Based on the results of the study, the underground portion of the Didipio operation will be brought forward by one year with development expected to commence in the first quarter of 2015 subject to receiving final regulatory approvals,” the company said.
The company’s first underground production is set to begin in the third quarter of 2017 with full ramp-up of 1.6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) by 2020.
The company also plans to redesign its underground area to include two mining domains which will increase the mine’s productivity rate to 1.6 Mtpa over a longer underground mine life, from 1.2 Mtpa previously.
The company will also be able to reduce open pit waste by nearly 70 million tonnes while only reducing ore supplied from the open pit by approximately one year, the study found.
This will be achieved through improved geotechnical understanding, an optimized open pit design, and a revised open pit interface.
“With nearly 18 months of commercial operations, we have identified significant value from the Didipio mine that will be unlocked through increased metal production, improved operating cash flows, as well as a significant reduction in waste mined combined with earlier access to higher grade underground ore,” Mr. Wilkes said.
“Over the coming months, the company will invest in additional resources definition drilling for resource conversion and to further prove out the ore body,” he added.
The Didipio Optimization Study is set to be finalized by the end of 2014. – Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas
