Yanacocha is an epithermal type deposit of high sulfidation hosted in volcanic rock formations. Gold is associated with ironoxides and pyrite.

The Yanacocha property consists of the following open pit mines: the La Quinua Complex, Cerro Yanacocha, the Carachugo Complex and Maqui Maqui.

The Yanacocha gold district is a 10x4km zone of altered rocks within a belt of tertiary volcanics that extends the whole length of Peru. Andesitic domes and dome complexes have been silicified and leached by epithermal gold-bearing solutions in at least nine distinct deposits. The mineralised sequences, which can also contain significant amounts of silver, are flanked by extensive argillitic alteration, and subsequent events have created siliceous breccia pipes with localised high gold grades.

The Yanacocha property began production in 1993 and consists of the following open pit mines: the La Quinua Complex, the Yanacocha Complex, the Carachugo Complex and Maqui Maqui.

The La Quinua Complex is currently mining material from the La Quinua Sur and the Tapado Oeste Layback and is scheduled to finish mining operations in 2019.

The Yanacocha Complex mines material from the Yanacocha Layback and Yanacocha Pinos, which are scheduled to finish mining operations in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Yanacocha Complex began operations in 1997 and has had limited mining operations in recent years.

The Carachugo Complex and Maqui Maqui mined material from multiple mines that are no longer in operation and only de minimis residual leaching of gold continues. In addition, the Carchugo Complex processes material from the Quecher Main project, which is a new open pit within the existing footprint of Yanacocha. This project will add oxide production at Yanacocha and will extend the life of the Yanacocha operation to 2027.

Yanacocha’s available mining fleet consists of two shovels, four excavators, two loaders and thirty-one 240-tonne haul trucks.

Yanacocha has four leach pads (La Quinua, Yanacocha, Carachugo and Maqui Maqui), three gold processing plants (Pampa Larga, Yanacocha Norte and La Quinua), one limestone processing facility (China Linda) and one mill (Yanacocha Gold Mill).

Yanacocha’s processing facilities (Pampa Larga, Yanacocha Norte and La Quinua) are located adjacent to the solution storage ponds and are used to process gold-bearing solutions from Yanacocha’s leach pads through a network of solution pumping facilities. The Yanacocha Gold Mill processes high-grade gold ore to produce a gold-bearing solution for treatment at the La Quinua processing plant. The Yanacocha Gold Mill commenced operations in March 2008, and it processes between 5.5 and 6.0 million tonnes per year.

Since the ore is porous, run-of-mine ore can be heap-leached without crushing and the solution treated by the Merrill Crowe process.