Summary

Deposit type

• Skarn
• Vein / narrow vein
• Porphyry

Summary:

Cadia consists of the Cadia East, Cadia Hill, Cadia Extended, and Ridgeway deposits which consist of alkalic porphyry gold-copper style mineralization and the Big Cadia deposit which is a skarn-style occurrence.

The Cadia deposits are located in the eastern Lachlan Fold Belt of NSW and formed within the intra-oceanic Macquarie Arc, a belt of Ordovician to early Silurian mafic to intermediate volcanic, volcaniclastic and intrusive rocks. Post-mineral deformation partially dismembered the district, thereby superposing different porphyry copper-gold systems as well as the host stratigraphy level.

Several mineralization styles are known in the district:
• Cadia Hill: intrusive wall rock, and volcanic-hosted deposit associated with sheeted quartz vein mineralization;
• Cadia East: volcanic-hosted. intrusion-centered deposit with disseminated and sheeted quartz vein mineralization;
• Cadia Far East (historical, now discontinued name; part of Cadia East): volcanic- and intrusion-hosted deposit with mainly sheeted quartz vein mineralization;
• Cadia Quarry: intrusive wall rock deposit associated with sheeted quartz-calcite-sulfide veins and locally developed zones of mineralized pegmatitic breccia;
• Ridgeway: intrusion- and volcanic-hosted quartz stockwork vein mineralization:
• Big/Liltle Cadia. Little Cadia: iron-rich skarn mineralization.

Deposit Geology
Mineralisation in the porphyry deposits occurs as sheeted and stockwork quartz–sulphide veins, and locally as broadly stratabound disseminated mineralisation (Cadia East) and skarn (Big Cadia and Little Cadia).

The Cadia district porphyry deposits have recorded a sequence of alteration and mineralisation events that evolved from early-stage magnetite-stable sodic, potassic and calc-potassic alteration with locally significant gold–copper mineralisation, through a period of transitional stage potassic alteration that introduced most of the gold–copper mineralisation. Propylitic and calc-silicate alteration were developed in the deposit peripheries at this time and a late stage of feldspathic alteration developed irregularly around the deposit margins and locally destroyed mineralisation.

All of the porphyry deposits show a close spatial association with shoshonitic monzodiorite to quartz monzonite dykes and stocks of the CIC. Gold–copper mineralisation is hosted by these intrusions and also by the enclosing FRV wall rocks. Field evidence (e.g., cross-cutting intrusive and vein relationships, vein dykes, intermineral comb quartz layers) strongly supports the hypothesis of deposit formation at the same time as the emplacement of the intrusive rocks that host mineralisation.

Wilson (2003) divided the Cadia porphyry deposits into two types:

• Intrusive wall rock deposits. Monzonitic intrusions in these deposits were interpreted to be country rock, upon which porphyry-style mineralisation was superimposed (e.g., Cadia Quarry and Cadia Hill). These deposits display no field evidence for a temporal relationship between intrusion and mineralisation;
• Intrusive-centred deposits. The intrusions in this deposit class display textural evidence to indicate the existence of a temporal and genetic link between the monzonitic intrusive complexes and hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation (e.g., Ridgeway, Cadia Far East).

The two types have distinctive alteration and mineralisation characteristics, but share a number of paragenetic features.

Cadia East
The Cadia East deposit occupies a mineralized zone 2.5 km in strike length. 600 m in width and over 1,900 m in vertical extent, It is located below and to the east of the Cadia Hill deposit.

Mineralization at Cadia East is divided into two broad overlapping zones; an upper, copper-rich disseminated zone and a deeper gold-rich zone associated with sheeted veins. The upper zone forms a relatively small cap to the overall mineralized envelope and has a core of disseminated chalcopyrite (and rare bornite), capped by chalcopyrite-pyrite mineralization (Fox et al., 2009).

The deeper zone is localized around a core of steeply-dipping, sheeted, quartz-calcite-bornitechalcopyrite-molybdenite veins, with the highest gold grades associated with the bornite-bearing veins. Copper and molybdenite form a mineralized blanket above and to the east of the highergrade gold envelope.

Au:Cu values are vertically zoned. The upper, disseminated zone of volcanic-hosted mineralization typically has low Au:Cu values (<1), whereas the envelopes of sheeted quartzcatcite-sulfide veins have higher Au:Cu values (typically >2).

Ridgeway
The deposit is a subvertical body of quartz-sulfide vein stockwork mineralization with an elliptical, pipe-like geometry, elongated along a northwest-striking axis. Stockwork dimensions are approximately 400 m east-west, 250 m north-south and the deposit extends to a depth in excess of 1,000 m.

Mineralization at Ridgeway and Ridgeway Deeps occurs in dense quartz vein stockworks and sheeted arrays localized in and around the small <50-100 m diameter) composite diorite to quartz-monzonite intrusive complex. The most strongly developed quartz stockwork veining and alteration, and the highest copper and gold grades, occur immediately adjacent to the monzonite.

The frequency of the veins and intensity of alteration decreases away from the intrusive complex margin (Wilson et at., 2003). Ore minerals include bornite and chalcopyrite with lesser covellite and gold and occur in veins and as disseminations (Wilson et al., 2003).

Sulfide minerals are zoned from a bomite to chalcopyrite (plus gold) core, outwards and upwards through a chalcopyrite-rich to an outer pyrite-rich domain.

Big Cadia
The Big Cadia iron-copper-goId skam deposit lies about 600 m north of the Cadia Quarry deposit and is hosted by calcareous volcanic sandstone and limestone units of the FRV. These units occupy a reasonably high stratigraphic position within the FRV. The fault-bounded magnetite (epidote) skam deposit dips to the southeast, and strikes west-northwest.

The Big Cadia deposit has dimensions of 1,000 x 200 m, and a drill-tested depth extent of about 400 m. It consists of an oxide lens, and sulfide mineralization at depth. Chalcopyrite and minor gold are ctosely associated with bladed hematite, magnetite and epidote (with lesser chlorite-quartz-calcite) replacements.

Cadia Hill
The deposit was mined out in 2012 and the open pit is currently being used for tailings backfill. The Cadia Hill deposit was about 900 m long. Quartz vein-hosted mineralization extended down dip for over 600 m, although the vein system continued for at least 350 m beyond the base of significant gold and copper mineralization.

Little Cadia The Little Cadia deposit has dimensions of 800 x 300 m, and extends to about 150 m depth. The Little Cadia deposit is hosted by bedded, calcareous volcanic-derived sandstones that correlate to the same skarn host al Big Cadia (Packham et al., 1999). Gold and chalcopyrite are associated with epidote ± quartz in the interstices of bladed hematite-magnetite aggregates that have replaced the calcareous sandstone (Forster et al., 2004).

Cadia Extended (Cadia Quarry)
Cadia Extended occurs on the northwestern side of the reverse faults that have truncated mineralization at Cadia Hill. The deposit has dimensions of about 1,200 x 1,100 m, and extends to about 900 m depth. It is located partly beneath the backfilled Cadia Extended open pit.

Little Cadia
The Little Cadia deposit has dimensions of 800 x 300 m, and extends to about 150 m depth. The Little Cadia deposit is hosted by bedded, calcareous volcanic-derived sandstones that correlate to the same skarn host al Big Cadia (Packham et al., 1999). Gold and chalcopyrite are associated with epidote ± quartz in the interstices of bladed hematite-magnetite aggregates that have replaced the calcareous sandstone (Forster et al., 2004).

Mining Methods

• Block caving
• Sub-level caving
• Panel caving

Summary:

The Cadia Operations include Cadia East underground mine, Cadia Hill open pit mine, Ridgeway underground mine.

Operations at the Cadia Hill open pit ceased by 2014 and, subsequently, the pit has been used for tailings storage. The Ridgeway Deeps and Ridgeway underground mine was also placed into care and maintenance by 2018.

Cadia East
The current operations are planned as a series of three lifts (Lifts 1. 2, and 3). The relative elevation of these lifts and all underground infrastructure is expressed in mine height datum which is 5,000 m above AHD. Lifts 1 and 2 are approximately 1,200-1.400 m high with their bases located at approximately 4650 mRL and 4450 mRL, respectively. Lift 3 sits below Lift 2 with a block height of 275 m and a base at 4,175 mRL.

Lift 1 refers to the following panel caves: PC1-1. PC1-2, PC1-3 and PC1-4.
Lift 2 refers to the following panel caves: PC2, PC2-3, PC2-4 and PC2-5.
Lift 3 refers to the following panel cave: PC 3-1 .

Cadia East is accessed via two declines, the main access decline, and the conveyor decline.

The mining method involves inducing caving of the rock mass by undercutting a block of ore. Mining proceeds by progressively advancing an "undercut" level beneath the block of ore. Above the undercut level, the overlying host rocks are pre-conditioned using blasting and/or hydraulic fracturing, resulting in controlled fracturing of the ore block.

Following pre-conditioning of the overlying host rocks, broken ore is removed through an extraction level developed below the undercut level. The extraction level is connected Io the undercut level by drawbells, through which the ore gravitates to drawpoints on the extraction level. The ore Is removed by a LHD fleet to underground crushing stations.

At each crushing station, ore is tipped into a coarse ore bin, which then feeds the crusher itself which passes material to a surge bin used to regulate the feed from the crushing station onto the collection conveyors. The collection conveyors are in turn used to regulate feed onto the main trunk belt system and to allow for the automated removal of tramp metals.

The main trunk bell is used to transport ore to the surface at a rale of approximately 4,600 t/h (with work underway to upgrade this to 5,150 t/h). The incline conveyor commences at 4.400 mRL (i.e. the base of Lift 2), extends approximately 7,500 m to the surface and is deposited onto the concentrator coarse ore stockpile where it is gravity fed into the ore processing system.

Cave initiation will commence adjacent to existing caves for operations on the Lift 1 and Lift 2 levels. This cave initiation position was aligned to prevent the formation of a low-mobility caveflow area (pendant). The Lift 3 level will be initiated under the existing Lift 2 caves, and the breakthrough to the lift above will be managed via a combination of fracturing, draw control, and personnel exclusion from high-risk zones.

Extraction Levels
Future extraction level development (inclusive of PC2-3) will consist of:
• 1,119 drawbells, with total footprint dimensions of 700.000 m 2 across seven panel areas;
• Crushers located adjacent to the footprint, connected to the level via development drives for LHD operation and situated with a 110-130 m standoff from the edge outer edge of the nearest drawbells.
• The standard extraction level layout used in mine planning is an El Teniente layout with spacing of 32 x 20 m, a 60" turn out angle and 5.4 m wide x 4.6 m high drive, as per PC1 and PC2. This spacing is considered to meet the needs of extraction level stability and ore recovery under Cadia East conditions;
• Extraction level perimeter drives are located at least 50 m from the edge of the undercut;
• Crushing stations have a four- or five-tipple dump arrangement;
• Extraction level drainage are designed so that water flows away from the crusher.

Cadia Panel Caves (Cadia PC1-2 Expansion,Cadia PC2-3 Expansion)
This project includes two panel caves to recover approximately 5.9 million ounces of gold reserves and 2.9 billion pounds of copper reserves. First ore has been delivered from the first panel cave (PC2-3), and development is underway at the second panel cave (PC1-2). Development capital costs are expected to continue until the second half of 2026.

Transitioning to next panel cave (PC2-3), resulting in lower grades in H2 2025 as planned.

Ridgeway
Ridgeway is a vertical porphyry copper/gold deposit located within the Cadia Valley and approximately 5 km from the ore treatment facility and adjacent to the Cadia Hill deposit. The upper portion of the deposit down lo 5040 Level (approximately 800 m below surface) has been mined using SLC methods, resulting in a column of caved material that extends to the surface to form a subsidence zone. An underground crusher was installed at the base of the SLC area and crushed ore was conveyed out of the mine via an inclined conveyor system. SLC mining is now complete.

The Ridgeway Deeps Lift 1 block cave operation was mined from 2007-2015, and was Newcresfs first block cave operation. The change to block caving was introduced after the identification that the grade profile for Ridgeway was declining to the point where subsequent SLC levels below the 5040 mRL were uneconomic. Il was also recognized that experience with techniques and methods of cave establishment were required for the then future Cadia East operations which were significantly larger in scale.

As a result of extensive reviews and study it was proposed that a 5.6 Mt/a block cave mine be established 250 m downdip of the base of the SLC at the 4786 mRL, Subsequent to establishment and ramp-up, the mine was debottlenecked to the point of achieving a total of 9.6 Mt/a. A total of 17 Mt grading 0.57g/t Au and 0 29% Cu remains in the Lift 1 level.

Ridgeway Deeps L1 uses an offset herringbone design for drawpoint layouts. Extraction crosscuts are spaced at 30 m intervals and drawbells at 18 m apart.

The Ridgeway deposit is accessed via two declines;
• Main access decline: approximately 10 km long; dimensions of 6.0 mW x 6.0 mH; and a gradient of 1 10 to 1:6 Functions as an air intake, and is the general mine access for heavy vehicles, light vehicles and personnel;

• Conveyor decline; about 7 km long, dimensions of 6.0 mW x 6.0 mH; and a gradient of 1:6 to 1:5.3. Functions as an air intake, and contains the main trunk conveyor system and secondary access for light vehicles and personnel.

Ore will initially be transported to surface using of 60 t trucks while evaluation of reinstating the crushing and materials handling system is undertaken.

There are jaw crushers with tipping points installed on the 4786 level with rock breakers installed to precondition oversize.

Cadia Continued Operations Project (CCOP)

Cadia Continued Operations Project
With confirmed mineable resources extending well beyond the 30 June 2031 life of the current Project Approval, Cadia has commenced planning for the continuation of mining operations. This continuation of mining operations project is known as the Cadia Continued Operations Project (CCOP).

To support continued mining beyond the current Project Approval expiring 30 June 2031, Cadia has initiated the CCOP. The project aims to extend operations for approximately 25 years (nominally to 2050), utilizing existing infrastructure.
Key components:
- Continued underground mining at Cadia East, with a refined subsidence zone due to expanded underground footprint.
- Continued underground mining at Ridgeway, including an extension known as Lift 2, with no change to the subsidence zone (per Modification 15).
- Ongoing ore processing at up to 35 Mtpa, consistent with current operations.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

• Smelting
• Gravity separation
• Jameson Cell Flotation
• Crush & Screen plant
• Centrifugal concentrator
• Flotation
• Dewatering
• Filter press

Summary:

Cadia operates two adjacent concentrators, Concentrator 1 and Concentrator 2, currently treating ore from Cadia East mine. Both concentrators have undergone throughput upgrades, including operational improvements, over the years.

The processing plant infrastructure includes high-pressure grinding rolls, SAG mills, ball mills, flotation, coarse ore flotation, gravity concentrator and a molybdenum plant to produce copper and gold concentrate, gold doré and molybdenum concentrate.

Based on tests, two concentrators were constructed using conventional flotation and gravity separation methods and have subsequently treated the Cadia Hill, Ridgeway, and Cadia East mineralization.

Mined ore recovered from the extraction level at the bottom of each cave is crushed in an underground crusher. It is then transported by conveyor to the surface for processing at one of Cadia’s two concentrators, which produce both gold doré (via gravity recovery) and copper concentrate. The gold doré is delivered to a gold refinery in Australia to produce refined gold and silver, while the copper concentrate is slurried and pumped along a dedicated pipeline to the Blayney dewatering facility for filtering before being transported by rail to Port Kembla for export to international smelters particularly in Japan and South Korea.

Coarse particle flotation in copper processing has been used since 2018 on the Concentrator 1 train 3 scavenger tailings.

Concentrator 1 has historically been referred to as the low-grade process facility, or the Cadia concentrator. Concentrator 2 has historically been referred to as the high-grade process facility, or the Ridgeway concentrator.

Concentrator 1 Design
The key unit operations in the processing plant are:

- Flash flotation cells and gravity concentrators for processing a component of the hydrocyclone underflow streams.
- Three flotation trains comprised of conventional Outokumpu flotation cells in rougherscavenger duties and a combination of Jameson cells and conventional cells in cleaner duties, and cleaner-scavenger and recleaner duties.
- HydroFloatTM cells for coarse tailings flotation, with cross flow classifier made by Eriez.
- 3 x Vertimills made by Metso for regrinding.
- Tailings thickeners made by EIMCO 53 m and FLSmidth 40 m diameter.
- Concentrate thickener made by Outokumpu Superflo 12 m diameter.

Concentrator 1 was commissioned in 1998, designed for Cadia Hill ore and had a design capacity of 17 Mt/a. The circuit consisted of primary crushing, SAG and ball milling, gravity concentration to produce gold dore and flotation to produce copper-gold concentrate.

In 2012, Concentrator 1 was upgraded for the processing of harder Cadia East ore which included the addition of a HPGR circuit, ahead of the SAG mill, and a third ball mill and third flotation train.

In 2022, Concentrator 1 was upgraded to increase the throughput and recovery of Cadia East ore. This included the addition of a third secondary crusher, upgrading the SAG mill motor to 22 MW and a coarse particle flotation circuit. The modifications will result in a throughput increase to 26 Mt/a nominal capacity over a three-year ramp up period.

Concentrator 2 includes the following processes:

- Flash flotation cell.
- One Jameson cell operating in a rougher duty.
- One bank of conventional rougher and scavenger cells with and a combination of Outotec conventional cleaner, cleaner-scavenger and recleaner cells float cells, complementing Jameson final cleaner cells.
- 4 x Vertimills made by Metso in regrinding duties.
- Tailings thickeners made by Outokumpu Superflo 29 m diameter.
- Concentrate thickener made by Outokumpu Superflo 20 m diameter.

Concentrator 2 was commissioned in 2002 and had a target rate of 4 Mt/a.

The circuit consisted of primary crushing, SAG and ball milling, gravity concentration to produce gold dor6 and flotation to produce copper-gold concentrate.

In mid-2008, the facilities were upgraded to suit predictions of harder and fines-deficient ore from Ridgeway Deeps block cave mine. The upgrade included installation of a secondary crushing circuit and additional regrind mill power.

A 2.24 MW Vertimill was installed in 2011 in a tertiary milling duty to reduce flotation feed size and improve metal recoveries.

In 2022, Concentrator 2 was upgraded to increase throughput and maintain recovery of Cadia East ore. This included the addition of a second tertiary duty 3.2 MW Vertimill. upgraded secondary and tertiary crushers from MP800 to MP1000, upgraded primary cyclones and pumps, and a rougher Jameson cell. Capacity will increase to over 8 Mt/a nominal capacity over a three year ramp up period.

Molybdenum Plant Design
Construction of the molybdenum plant commenced in 2020. and the plant was commissioned in 2022. The plant is scheduled to process between 300,000-400,000 t of Cadia concentrate and produce about 3,500-4,000 t of molybdenum concentrate annually.

The molybdenum plant receives feed from the overland copper concentrate pipeline that transports concentrate slurry from the copper concentrators to lhe Blayney concentrate fitter plant.

The molybdenum flotation circuit includes a conditioning Eh/pH stage, a rougher flotation stage, a four-stage cleaner-scavenger circuit, a regrind stage, and thickener stage. The molybdenum concentrate is thickened, filtered and dried, before being packaged into bulk bags for transport.

Copper-rich tails from the molybdenum plant rougher flotation stage are thickened and returned to the existing copper concentrate transport system for pumping to Biayney.

Pipelines and Water Supply

Summary:

Water supply for mining and processing purposes is characterized by variable supply sources. Water requirements are proportional to the amount of mineral processing and significant water storage is required to provide consistent supply. The amount of water taken from each source is dependent on the conditions set through agreement or licensing and the physical amount available.

The water supply scheme consists of recycling of water used on-site and make-up water required to compensate for losses in the system. Mine water and excess water in the TSFs are recycled. Make-up water sources comprise extraction from the Belubula River, Cadiangullong Dam, Rodds Creek Water Holding Dam, Flyers Creek Weir, Cadia Creek Weir, Orange Sewage Treatment Plant treated effluent, on-site groundwater extraction bores, and site run-off.

Harvesting of water on-site (including Cadiangullong Creek, Flyers Creek, Cadia Creek, Rodds Creek and Copper Gully) is licensed at 4,200 ML/a.

In addition to ensuring adequate water supply, the water system also plays a critical role in managing water accumulation during prolonged periods of above average rainfall, as occurs during La Nina events. This is achieved by reserving airspace in the Rodds Creek Water Holding Dam to allow transfer of water from the TSF, leachate collection dams and sediment control dams.

Treated sewage effluent is sourced from Orange under an agreement between the Orange City Council and Newcrest (now Newmont). The agreement has an upper limit on the amount that can be supplied per annum, but varies depending on the rainfall. Extraction of water from surface water systems (creeks and river) and groundwater is governed by water licenses issued by the NSW State Government. The conditions imposed on those licenses limit the rate of extraction, the times at which water can be extracted and the total amount of water that can be extracted per year.

A water balance review in support of 35 Mt/a operations after 2030 was completed, assuming deposition of highly-thickened tailings, 65% w/w solids, from Concentrator 1 into the Cadia open pit at a rate of 14 Mt/a. The remaining tailings from Concentrator 1 were assumed to continue to go to the NTSF at a rate of around 10 Mt/a, while Concentrator 2 tailings would report to the STSF at approximately 8 Mt/a. Models showed that there is a very low risk of water shortage in the short-term (five years). Over the longer term, there is a small risk of around 10% in any given year of a small shortfall of approximately 1,000 ML which equates to around 2 Mt/a of production rate. Installation of a high compression thickening facility to improve the overall recovery of water from tailings at the higher throughput rates and the installation of 150 L/s of dewatering capacity to return rainfall back to the process plant will be required to ensure acceptable water reliability for the Cadia Valley Operations. No further external water sources or supplies are considered necessary for the proposed project.

Droughts have, in the past, resulted in a prolonged period of very low water supply. Drought conditions are a risk to future operations if unduly prolonged. Based on the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, which assesses water risk on a five-tiered scale against a series of indicators (including physical quantity, quality, and regulatory and reputational risk), the water risk ranges from medium to high at the Cadia Valley Operations. This rating is the median of the risk ratings assigned in the atlas.

Water Recycling
The LOM plan assumes that 65-70% of all water will be recycled.

Newmont has continued to implement water saving efficiency measures which has resulted in net water recycling rates increasing from approximately 65-70% to approximately 85%. This higher rate of water recycling has been driven by improving the level of water recycle from the tailings thickeners in the process plant and by exceptionally high water recycle rates being delivered from the Cadia Pit TSF.

Newmont continues to pursue further water saving initiatives, both in the plant and by way of optimization of onsite bores.

Water Pipelines
Key water pipelines associated with Cadia:
• From the Belubula River to Cadia to supply supplementary water for use at the mine site under licence.
• A treated effluent water pipeline from Orange to Cadia to provide recycled effluent water for use at Cadia.
• Between the mining operations and the Cadia Dewatering Facility at Blayney, a dual pipeline is maintained to transfer copper concentrate to the Cadia Dewatering Facility and return water back to the mine.
• Between the Flyers Creek Pump Station and Rodds Creek Dam to supply water under licence for use at the mine site.

Commodity Production

Operational metrics

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
Development Manager	Nicholas Fryer		May 13, 2025
Development Superintendent	Owen Wells		May 13, 2025
Electrical Maintenance Superintendent	Shehan Fernando		May 13, 2025
Fixed Plant Maintenance Manager	Johan Botha		May 13, 2025
Fixed Plant Operations Superintendent	Daniel Breen		May 8, 2025
General Manager Operations	Tom Lukeman		May 13, 2025
Health, Safety & Environment Manager	Greg Taylor-Adams		May 13, 2025
Maintenance Superintendent	Jarrad Haynes		May 13, 2025
Metallurgical Superintendent	Campbell Haines		May 13, 2025
Project Manager	Rami Ghattas		May 13, 2025