Overview
| Status | Care and Maintenance |
| Mine Type | Open Pit & Underground |
| Commodities |
|
| Mining Method |
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Longhole stoping
- Longhole open stoping
- Paste backfill
|
| Mine Life | 10 years (as of Jan 1, 2023) |
Porgera Mine was placed on temporary care and maintenance on April 25, 2020, and remains excluded from the 2023 guidance.
Barrick is aiming to restart operations at the Porgera gold mine later 2023. In preparation for the restart, the mobile fleet and fixed plant are being recommissioned, the mining and metallurgy plans have been updated, and the personnel recruitment plan has been finalized |
| Latest News | Barrick Gold Corp.: Special Mining Lease Signals Porgera Restart October 13, 2023 |
Source:
p. 35,85
On April 7, 2022, the Shareholders’ Agreement for the new Porgera joint venture company was signed by Porgera (Jersey) Limited, which is an affiliate of Barrick Niugini Limited (“BNL”), and the state-owned Kumul Minerals (Porgera) Limited. The Shareholders’ Agreement became effective on February 3, 2022, following signature by MRE, the holder of the remaining 5% of the original Porgera joint venture, which will allow for the incorporation of a new Porgera joint venture company. New Porgera Limited, the new Porgera joint venture company, was incorporated on September 22, 2022 and became a party to the Commencement Agreement and the Shareholders’ Agreement on October 13, 2023.
BNL is jointly owned on a 50/50 basis by Barrick and Zijin Mining Group. Accordingly, following the implementation of the Commencement Agreement, Barrick’s current 47.5% interest in the Porgera mine is expected to be reduced to 24.5% interest. BNL will retain operatorship of the mine.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Epithermal
- Vein / narrow vein
Summary:
Porgera Mine is an epithermal vein-type gold-silver deposit but it shares many characteristics with porphyry copper deposits. Remnant heat from the intrusive rocks drove the boiling and upward migration of hydrothermal fluids and resulted in the emplacement of mineralization. The movement of these fluids was controlled by permeability of the rock mass, which developed in and around faults and tectonic zones of dilatancy. As such, the mineralization tends to occur in tabular bodies and breccia zones, the geometry of which is strongly influenced by the orientation of fault structures and subsidiary fractures. Deposition of ore minerals in epithermal systems is also dependent upon temperature and hydrostatic pressure. These conditions are generally closely related to elevation, with reduction of both temperature and pressure as the fluids migrate upwards.
Mining Methods
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Longhole stoping
- Longhole open stoping
- Paste backfill
Summary:
The Porgera Joint Venture is an open pit and underground gold mine located at an altitude of 2,200- 2,600 meters in the Enga Province of Papua New Guinea.
The Open Pit mine is 500 meter deep, below the highest point of surface topography and approximately 30 million tonnes (t) of ore per year is excavated. The material mined is a combination of gold bearing ore and barren waste.
Pit dimensions: 2.0km long x 1.2km wide x 400m deep.
Mining in the open pit is undertaken on 10 meter high benches. When the material is too hard to be free dug, the rock is drilled and blasted with a range of drill patterns to suit the litholog.
The Open Pit is a conventional truck and shovel operation and is serviced by a large modern mining fleet of 175t and 90t haul trucks, loaded by 200t and 120t shovels and excavators. There are also smaller 40t and 35t excavators for ancillary work.
The Porgera Underground Mine is a modern, trackless mine, producing approximately 1.4 million tonnes of ore per year from three primary production areas: North Zone, East Zone and AHD.
The underground (UG) operation mines the lodes at depth currently up 330 meter beneath the current pit floor. The Underground operation has a strike extent of approximately 1.6 kilometer (km). The primary access is via a twin decline system from surface with secondary internal accesses connecting the various mining areas.
Mining is done by convention long ho ........
Source:
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Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Projected Production:
On April 25, 2020, Porgera was placed on care and maintenance after the Government of Papua New Guinea communicated on April 24, 2020 that the Special Mining Lease would not be extended.
| Commodity | Units | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|
Gold
|
koz
| ...... | ...... | 430 | 495 | 493 | 554 |
All production numbers are expressed as metal in conc./ doré.
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Operational Metrics:
| Metrics | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|
Stripping / waste ratio
| 4.6 | 5.7 | 15 | 12.9 | | | |
|
Waste
| 5,520 kt | 21,907 kt | 17,956 kt | 20,867 kt | | | |
|
Ore tonnes mined
| 1,758 kt | 5,789 kt | | | | | |
|
Total tonnes mined
| 7,278 kt | 27,697 kt | 20,762 kt | 24,219 kt | 16,924 kt | 22,139 kt | 16,546 kt |
|
Tonnes processed
| 1,971 kt | 5,558 kt | 4,501 kt | 5,891 kt | 5,705 kt | 6,323 kt | 5,878 kt |
|
Daily milling capacity
| | | | 16,100 kt | 15,600 t | 15,200 t | 16,100 t |
|
Daily mining rate
| | | | | 45.9 kt | 62.1 kt | 46.5 kt |
Reserves at December 31, 2022:
| Category | OreType | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
|
Proven
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
2.69 Mt
|
Gold
|
6.69 g/t
|
0.57 M oz
|
|
Probable
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
20.4 Mt
|
Gold
|
3.55 g/t
|
2.32 M oz
|
|
Probable
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
8.98 Mt
|
Gold
|
7.05 g/t
|
2.08 M oz
|
|
Probable
|
Total
|
29.38 Mt
|
Gold
|
4.64 g/t
|
4.4 M oz
|
|
Proven & Probable
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
20.4 Mt
|
Gold
|
3.55 g/t
|
2.33 M oz
|
|
Proven & Probable
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
11.84 Mt
|
Gold
|
6.96 g/t
|
2.65 M oz
|
|
Proven & Probable
|
Total
|
32.24 Mt
|
Gold
|
4.81 g/t
|
4.89 M oz
|
|
Measured
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
1.59 Mt
|
Gold
|
3.98 g/t
|
0.2 M oz
|
|
Measured
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
4.04 Mt
|
Gold
|
6.16 g/t
|
0.82 M oz
|
|
Measured
|
Total
|
5.63 Mt
|
Gold
|
5.55 g/t
|
1.02 M oz
|
|
Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
57.14 Mt
|
Gold
|
2.78 g/t
|
5.31 M oz
|
|
Indicated
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
20.4 Mt
|
Gold
|
6.04 g/t
|
3.96 M oz
|
|
Indicated
|
Total
|
77.55 Mt
|
Gold
|
3.62 g/t
|
9.38 M oz
|
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
24.9 Mt
|
Gold
|
2.2 g/t
|
1.76 M oz
|
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
7.35 Mt
|
Gold
|
6.6 g/t
|
1.59 M oz
|
|
Inferred
|
Total
|
32.25 Mt
|
Gold
|
3.2 g/t
|
3.35 M oz
|
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