Gold Fields: Delivery of first gold at the Salares Norte Project
Gold Fields announces a further update to production of first gold from the Project which has been impacted by delays in pre-commissioning and commissioning activities.
First gold is now expected in April 2024, with production volumes for 2024 expected to be in the range of 220 000 to 250 000 gold equivalent ounces. Planned production volumes for 2025 and 2026 remain unchanged at 600 000 gold equivalent ounces.
Total mechanical construction of the Project is substantially complete at 99.3% and mining has progressed significantly with more than 87.2 million tonnes of waste moved and 2.3 million ore tonnes and 520 000 gold equivalent ounces stockpiled.
Current pre-commissioning and commissioning of the Project has however, encountered difficulties impacting on the delivery of first gold due to:
1. Underestimation of the pre-commissioning and commissioning interdependencies and the compounding impact of individual delays on overall Project progress
The Salares Norte Project flowsheet comprises comminution, leaching, counter-current decantation and tailings filtration unit processes (“Circuit A”), followed by dual metal extraction circuits, the Merril Crowe circuit which contributes 85% of metal recovery (“Circuit B”) and a Carbon-in-Pulp circuit which contributes 15% of metal recovery (“Circuit C”) acting as a scavenger.
Construction, pre-commissioning and commissioning processes are interdependent and recent delays to one process have therefore had a knock-on effect on overall project timelines.
During pre-commissioning and commissioning several issues required rework, including safety related issues, impacting on the Project schedule.
Circuit A: The crusher, material handling circuit, SAG & Ball mills, thickeners, leaching circuit, lime and flocculant plants are undergoing full commissioning.
Circuit B: Delays have been experienced in pre-commissioning certain safety critical circuits that are part of Circuit B, in particular the cyanide and other reagents circuits which needed to be reworked.
Safety is of paramount importance to Gold Fields and it is the Company’s number one value to ensure that all our operations and projects are developed and operated safely.
Circuit C: Remaining construction work is in progress for this circuit and will be progressed in parallel with the commissioning of circuits A and B, which are critical to first gold and early production ramp-up.
Given the delays, as pre-commissioning has progressed there have been multiple impacts requiring the allocation of limited resources to manage competing priorities impacting the critical path.
Gold Fields is appointing independent project and commissioning specialists to review and validate the remaining schedule to full commissioning.
2. Availability of contractor personnel
The Company and the primary contractor are currently taking steps to ensure that we have the necessary skills and people required to achieve the remaining key milestones. In addition, internal and external resources are being added to support completion of the Project and production ramp up.
Process going forward
The Project schedule has been reviewed and updated with first gold expected in April 2024 and production volumes for 2024 revised to a range 220 000 to 250 000 gold equivalent ounces. Monthly steady state production is expected to be reached by the beginning of 2025 therefore planned production volumes for 2025 onwards are not expected to be affected.
Detailed guidance for the Project’s lifeof mine production volumes and all-in-costs (AIC), the revisedcapital cost and any feedback from the independent review andverification process will be provided with the announcement of theCompany’s 2023 full year results.
The Salares Norte Project is a world-class project which is expected to deliver robust returns and will improve the value and quality of the Gold Fields portfolio.
