Newmont Completes US$69-million Northwest Exodus Expansion

Gold miner Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) has completed a US$69-million expansion at its Exodus operation, extending the mine life of its Carlin mining operation in Nevada by ten years, the company announced on Tuesday (July 17).

The expansion, which was the company’s second in the last month, was completed both ahead of schedule and within budget and will add between 50,000 ounces a year and 75,000 ounces a year of gold production. The expansion will also lower Carlin’s all-in sustaining costs by about US$25 per ounce in its first five years of operation.

“Northwest Exodus leverages fit-for-purpose technologies, existing infrastructure and higher-grade ore to lower costs, extend mine life and deliver an internal rate of return of more than 40 percent,” said Tom Palmer, EVP and COO.

“As our newest expansion, Northwest Exodus demonstrates Newmont’s commitment to investing prudently in viable technologies that enhance safety and generate long-term value for our stakeholders,” he added.

According to Newmont, the project was designed to support autonomous operations and is currently running two autonomous mobile loaders while pilot-testing autonomous drills to both access and recover ore.

“The operation is also fitted with reliable, high-bandwidth underground Wi-Fi to connect people, systems and equipment,” the company said in a press release.

“Over the last five years, Newmont has built eight new mines and expansions on four continents, including Akyem and the Phoenix Copper Leach in 2013, Merian and Long Canyon in 2016, Tanami in 2017, and Twin Underground in 2018,” the company added.

Newmont Mining also completed a value-accretive acquisition of Cripple Creek and Victor in 2015 and delivered a profitable expansion at the mine in 2016.

As of 11:10 a.m. EST on Wednesday (July 18), Newmont was trading at US$37.10.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Nicole Rashotte, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.