OUR TRACK RECORD
NEWMONT - BODDINGTON
OPTIMISATION & DEBOTTLENECKING
Project Details
TIMEFRAME: 2010 - 2023
CLIENT: Newmont
LOCATION: Western Australia
COMMODITY: Gold
SERVICES: Process Plant Design | Process Plant Optimisation & Debottlenecking | Owner's Representative
GOLD RECOVERY
Increased by 2-3%
ANNUALISED THROUGHPUT
Increased to 115% of design
CONTRIBUTION
90+ improvement studies and projects
Project Background
Australia's largest open-cut gold mine, Newmont's Boddington Operation, achieved commercial production in 2009 and has produced over 10Moz of gold (to 2024). Chemech played an integral role in the Boddington design and commissioning, and the strong relationships developed during this period resulted in a partnership with Newmont that went on to improve operational performance in many areas.
Chemech's Contributions
Since commissioning in 2009, Chemech has supported Boddington with more than 90 improvement studies and projects. Chemech’s ongoing input has helped Boddington achieve substantial increases in recovery and throughput, as well supporting projects to extend the mine life, enviromental compliance and worker health and safety.
During major debottlenecking studies in 2010 and 2012, Chemech extensively analysed plant data and used dynamic modelling to identify a number of relatively minor upgrades capable of increasing throughput beyond 38.6Mt/a (design was 35Mt/a). These included conveyor capacity upgrades, HPGR speed/pressure increases, fine screen aperture reduction, and ball mill power draw increases. Chemech assisted with progressive implementation of these projects, and throughput exceeded design by 15% in 2018 (40Mt/a).
Between 2015 and 2018, Chemech played a key role in the design and implementation of a significant project to upgrade Boddington’s oxygen addition systems. Upgrades to dosing equipment, instrumentation and the control system, significantly increased oxygen uptake efficiency and improved leach performance. This resulted in a significant reduction in oxygen usage and an improvement in overall gold recovery by ~2%.
Between 2015 and 2019, Chemech also played key roles in the design and implementation of the concentrate grade improvement project. Options to improve concentrate grade by reducing non-sulphide gangue entrainment were investigated, and a cleaner-scalper flotation column with froth washing was installed. The non-sulphide gangue in final concentrate decreased by 40%, significantly increasing concentrate grade and reducing the concentrate shipping mass by 21%.
Boddington’s residue disposal system is relatively complex due to its high throughput (40Mt/a), large storage capacity (>600Mt), and strict environmental criteria. Chemech were intimately involved in the original design of the disposal system and subsequently provided significant technical support during its operation. Newmont therefore engaged Chemech in 2020 to complete an options study for residue disposal and decant return systems required to support a new 540Mt residue disposal area. The design was very complex, requiring 3300t/h to be delivered in pipelines up to 15km long and depositing up to 90m below the pump level. Chemech then progressed the preferred option through a prefeasibility study in 2021, which became the basis for the final design.
Chemech’s involvement in optimisation and debottlenecking projects at Boddington was instrumental in identifying, analysing and recommending low-capital-cost and easy-to-implement upgrades that effectively unlocked significant throughput and recovery increases. The success of these projects has benefited greatly from Chemech's intimate knowledge of the process plant design, excellent data analysis, practical engineering competency and a real skill for stakeholder engagement. Chemech have been a significant part of Boddington's success from the early studies through to the present day.
- Steve Hart, Newmont's Processing Manager – Newmont Boddington Gold¹
1: This statement reflects the personal views of Steve Hart and does not constitute an official endorsement by Newmont Corporation.
2: Certain statements contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially.