South Africa and the US host two every of the world’s ten largest gold mines, whereas Indonesia, Russia, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Australia, and the Dominican Republic home the remaining. South Deep gold mine in South Africa has the most important gold deposits on the planet. Mining Technology lists the highest ten greatest gold mines on the planet based mostly on contained gold reserves.
Top 10 biggest gold mines in the world:
1. South Deep gold mine – 32.Eight million ounces (Moz)
South Deep gold mine is the most important gold mine on the planet, by reserves. Located 45km south-west of Johannesburg within the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, South Deep can also be the seventh deepest mine in the world, with a mine depth as much as 2,998m beneath the floor.
The managed mineral reserve at South Deep as of December 2018 stood at 32.8Moz.
South Deep was recognized by the identify Western Areas Gold Mine till 2000. Mining operations on the web site have been beginning in 1961. Goldfields grew to become the proprietor and operator of the South Deep gold mine in 2006. The underground gold mine is operated by way of two shaft techniques, referred to as the South Shaft advanced and the Twin Shaft advanced.
South Deep produced 157,100ozof gold in 2018, in comparison with 281,300ozin 2017. The mine lifetime of South Deep is anticipated to be prolonged as much as 2092.
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2. Grasberg gold mine – 30.2Moz
Grasberg gold mine within the Papua province of Indonesia was found in 1988. The Grasberg mining operation consists of the Grasberg open-pit and 4 underground mines, particularly DOZ, DMLZ, Big Gossan, and Grasberg Block Cave (GBC). It additionally consists of an undeveloped ore physique named Kucing Liar.
The mine is operated by Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX). PTFI owns 90.64% of the Grasberg mining operation, whereas the remaining (9.36%) is owned by the Government of Indonesia.
The open-pit operation began in 1990 and was anticipated to be accomplished by the top of 2019. Ore manufacturing on the GBC underground mine began within the third quarter of 2019. Ongoing expansions on the mine are anticipated to ramp up the manufacturing to 240,000t per day by 2022.
The mine produced 2.69 million ounces (Moz) of gold in 2018, milling 178,100t of ore a day.
3. Olimpiada gold mine – 26Moz
Olimpiada gold mine, situated within the Krasnoyarsk area of Eastern Siberia, Russia, is owned and operated by Polyus Gold
The mine had confirmed and the possible reserve is estimated at 26Moz (281Mt grading 2.88g/t gold) as of December 2018.
It employs a standard open-pit methodology with using shovel and truck. The extracted ore is processed at two close by crops with a mixed annual capability of 13 million tonnes.
First manufacturing at Olimpiada gold mine occurred in 1996. The mine produced 1.3Moz of gold in 2018. It was transitioned to autonomous machine operation in January 2019.
4. Lihir gold mine – 24Moz
Lihir gold mine, situated 900km north-east of Port Moresby within the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG), has been in manufacturing since 1997. It is owned and operated by Lihir Gold Limited (LGL), which was merged with Newcrest Mining in August 2010. Newcrest Mining presently owns and operates the Lihir gold mine.
Lihir mine had in-situ gold reserves of 24Moz (330Mt grading 2.3g/t gold) as of December 2018
Most of the ore extracted from Lihir is handled by way of strain oxidation and standard leaching. The mine produced 933,000ozof gold within the monetary 12 months ending June 2019.
Newcrest accomplished a pre-feasibility examine for the Lihir pit optimisation in February 2016. The mine is anticipated to supply 1Moz of gold in 2020.
5. Norte Abierto gold mine – 23.2Moz
The Norte Abierto gold mine, which is but to begin manufacturing, is situated within the Atacama Region of Chile. Norte Abierto, a 50:50 three-way partnership between Barrick Gold and Newmont Goldcorp, is growing the mine as an open-pit mission.
The mine was estimated to include 23.2Moz of confirmed and possible gold reserves as of December 2018.
Two deposits named Cerro Casale and Caspiche which can be situated at a distance of 12km from one another, throughout the Maricunga Gold Belt of northern Chile, can be mined as a part of the mission.
6. Carlin Trend gold mine – 12.46Moz
Carlin Trend gold mine operated by Newmont in Nevada, US, had mixed confirmed and possible gold reserves of 12.46Moz, together with open-pit and underground reserves of 5.6Moz and 4.87Moz respectively, as of December 2018, whereas the stockpiles reserves have been estimated to be 1.25Moz.
Newmont began open-pit mining at Carlin in 1965, whereas underground mining began in 1994. The open-pit mines embody the Carlin, Emigrant, Gold Quarry, and Silverstar pits. The operation additionally consists of 4 underground mines particularly Carlin East, Deep Post, Chukar, and Leeville.
The Carlin mine advanced produced 927,000ozof gold in 2018, in comparison with 972,000ozof gold in 2017.
7. Boddington gold mine – 12.35Moz
The Newmont-operated Boddington gold mine situated close to Boddington, Western Australia, first commenced open-pit operations in 1987 by extracting the shallow oxide ores as much as 70m-deep beneath floor. It was put underneath care and upkeep in 2001.
Commercial manufacturing from the Boddington gold mine was restarted in 2009, with an anticipated mine lifetime of as much as 20 years.
The mine contained a gold reserve of 12.35Moz together with 1.3Moz of gold contained in stockpiles as of December 2018. It produced 709,000ozof gold in 2018.
Newmont invested roughly $500m in a major enlargement of the mine’s south pit in 2015, which is anticipated to increase the lifetime of the mine till 2025.
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8. Mponeng gold mine – 11.65Moz
Mponeng gold mine situated close to the city of Carletonville, South Africa, is owned and operated by AngloGold Ashanti. The underground gold mine can also be present the deepest mine in the world with a depth of greater than 4km beneath the floor.
The mine had contained a gold reserve of 11.65Moz (36.47Mt grading 9.93g/t gold), as of December 2018. It produced 265,000ozof gold in 2018.
The mine makes use of a sequential grid mining methodology. The gold plant advanced and the shafts at Mponeng have been commissioned in 1986.
9. Pueblo Viejo gold mine – 10.92Moz
Pueblo Viejo mine, situated roughly 100km north-west of Santo Domingo within the Dominican Republic, is owned and operated by Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation (PVDC), which is a three-way partnership between Barrick Gold (60%) and Newmont Goldcorp (40%).
Its contained gold reserves as of December 2018 have been 10.92Moz (127.9Mt grading 2.66/t gold).
The open-pit mine exploits gold assets from two main oxide deposits, particularly Monte Negro and Moore, in addition to from three different small deposits.
Pueblo Viejo was introduced into industrial manufacturing in January 2013. It produced 581,000ozof gold in 2018. The lifetime of the gold mine is estimated to be greater than 25 years.
10. Cortez gold mine – 8.7Moz
Cortez gold mine, situated 100km south-west of Elko, in Lander County, Nevada, US, is owned and operated by Barrick Gold.
It incorporates 8.7Moz (145Mt grading 1.87g/t gold) of contained gold, together with 1.13Moz of confirmed and seven.59Moz of possible reserves.
Production from Cortez began in 1969. The mine employs each open-pit and underground mining strategies. Gold from Cortez open-pit, Pipeline, and South Pipeline deposits are extracted by way of typical open-pit strategies.
The Cortez Hills underground mine is operated by twin declines. Underhand cut-and-fill mining methodology is used to take advantage of the breccia ore. Barrick Gold produced 1.7Moz of gold from Cortez mine in 2018.
