- Newmont moves ~ 30 tons of rock and ore to extract a single ounce of gold.
- Newmont currently has 381 haul trucks, which can collectively carry 84,605 tons.
Recent Features :
Our Business
Our People
Our Values
Our Environment
Our Environment Features
Index of Features
- 1 of 5
- ››
Lean Belt Training: Potential to Save Ghana $3 Million
Ahafo, Ghana
In just a few short months following the completion of Business Excellence Lean Belt training, Newmont Ghana will potentially save $3 million through increased efficiencies.
The training, which involves lectures, simulations and real-world scenarios, equipped 42 employees with the principles and tools to reduce waste and improve process flow with the vision of improving productivity.
Four training graduates have since applied this newfound knowledge for immediate benefit:
Paul Manestar found a way to reduce planned maintenance shutdowns in the Ahafo Mine, improve gold production and increase the probability of annual plan attainment – an opportunity to save $2 million due to process improvements and waste elimination.
- Gloria Barwuah improved efficiencies in contractor invoicing processing. As a result, invoice errors and omissions dropped from approximately 90 percent to an estimated 5 percent. Her goal is to ensure all contractor invoices are processed quickly with zero errors, and that Newmont supervisors oversee all contractor work.
Emmanuel Asakpo streamlined the particle size of crushed ore to consistently meet customer product requirements of 140 millimeters or less.
- Stephen Attuah-Oppong evaluated bottlenecks and clarified roles to improve customer service and satisfaction through a warehouse server level agreement.
This spring, Newmont Ghana expects that most of the remaining program graduates will have completed their projects, generating additional savings and efficiencies.
April 18, 2011
Subika Reaches Ore Ahead of Schedule
Kenyase, Ghana
Thanks to favorable ground conditions and minimal difficulties with water, the Subika underground project team was thrilled to reach ore six weeks ahead of schedule.
To gain a better understanding of the underground mining methods applicable to Subika and an indication of grade variability expectations in the long-term, the team will continue with study work and preparing the first trial stope. The team also is gathering all baseline data needed to obtain a production permit.
April 18, 2011
Finding Ways to Innovate
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
A young engineer at Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines found a simple solution to a potentially critical issue: automation.
Stringent controls on the mine's Gidgi Roaster are required to maintain local air quality requirements. Recently, control room operators found themselves needing to continuously monitor throughput rates to the roaster to ensure it would not exceed roasting limits. Their constant attention to this issue prevented them from completing other important work and led to a stressful work environment.
Lars Christiansen suggested automating the process much like cruise control regulates the speed of a car. His idea led to the development of more consistent and accurate throughput controls. Not only has this maintained air emissions, it also has improved throughput productivity by 1 percent.
April 18, 2011
PTNNT Receives Fifth Green Proper Award
West Sumbawa, Indonesia
It came as no surprise that PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PTNNT) received the Green PROPER Award from RI Ministry of Environment again in 2010 – its fifth win over a period of 10 years.
The award is given to a business or activity whose environmental management exceeds requirements and employs the principles of reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery of waste. PTNNT was one of 35 companies out of nearly 700 evaluated to earn this prestigious recognition.
April 18, 2011
A High-tech Approach to Water Treatment
Waihi, New Zealand
Due to an average annual rainfall in excess of 7 feet (2,200 mm), and a restriction on discharging treated water, Newmont Waihi Gold – which operates the Martha open pit and Favona underground mines – had to control a surplus (considered a positive water balance) of roughly 260 million gallons of water per year.
The mine has captured on-site stormwater in an extensive network of collection ponds since its mine license was granted in 1987. From there, it treats the water to comply with strict environmental standards prior to being discharged from the site to a river.
In recent years, Waihi has been developing new and exciting opportunities to extend its operational life. These developments expanded the site's footprint, further increasing the volume of water that required capturing, treatment and discharge. As a result, the site was in danger of consuming all available storage space for water.
At the same time, on-site monitoring revealed in 2003 that the quality of stored water was deteriorating. It contained levels of selenium, a mineral found in ore. The mine controlled these levels to maintain compliance, but this compromised the efficiencies of the existing water treatment plant.
As a result, the site was forced to reduce water discharges until other treatment options for selenium could be evaluated. This put water volumes out of balance because the reduced discharges led to more water accumulating in on-site storage areas.
As the Favona underground mine was being developed in 2004, a new problem emerged: the presence of antimony, a naturally occurring metal. Its concentration in the tailings storage facility was increasing at an alarming rate. The site's senior metallurgist, Jake Croall and his team, guided by mill manager Kirsty Hollis, soon realized they could not continuously scramble to find treatment options for individual metals.
"The amount of work we had to do to understand selenium and antimony treatment was enormous," Croall said. "If we didn't find a way to remove these metals, it would have been a different landscape."
To fully understand the problem, the site team enlisted modeling expertise from Newmont's Denver office and from others in Tucson and Brazil to develop a customized, stateof- the-art "dynamic water balance" model. The model took into account 100 years of historical climate data, the chemical makeup of both the ore and processing solutions, as well as the efficiency of the water treatment operations.
The model found the only reasonable solution would be to increase the volume of water permitted to be discharged, a factor beyond the control of the site. Regulators would allow the mine to increase the amount of water it discharged, but only if there was a corresponding improvement in the water quality.
The only way to accomplish this was to install a more technologically advanced water treatment system robust enough to treat a variety of compounds – more efficiently. This would reduce the mass load of water containing metals being released into the environment.
Waihi undertook an exhaustive investigation into potential water treatment technologies. It found an ideal but unusual solution for a mine site: a reverse-osmosis plant. This technology contains an indiscriminant molecular filter that is effective for treating nearly anything. The filter treats water to an extremely pure level – far better than what is required by regulators – which makes it extremely expensive to install ($NZ11 million) and operate.
The site commissioned the reverse-osmosis plant in 2008, and regulators increased the discharge consent later that same year. Slowly but surely the stored water volume was reduced and were once again in balance. The plant also has the capacity to treat more water. Problem solved.
Jake Croall contributed to this story. He was Waihi's senior metallurgist until 2010, but recently transferred to the Malozemoff Technical Facility in Denver. Today, he serves as an environmental process development scientist.
April 18, 2011
Newmont Poised to Make a Difference with Solar
Denver, Colorado
According to an analysis recently performed by Newmont’s Business Planning and Analysis department, on average, Newmont’s energy costs are estimated to be 20 percent of our overall operating costs, and almost 30 percent at some sites. This equates to approximately $761 million in 2010. With that number expected to rise almost 50 percent on a cost per ounce basis through 2020, Newmont is increasing our focus on solar powered energy, setting the foundation to make a positive difference.
In its most basic form, solar energy is defined as energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy. There are two main types of solar energy: Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). PV solar uses panels to generate electricity and CSP uses special mirrors to generate power.
“We have started development of a 20 to 25-megawatt facility in Nevada,” said Cathy Ramsey, director of Renewable Energy. “If determined feasible, the Nevada solar facility can begin operating by late 2011 and possibly expand to a 150-megawatt facility in the future.”
Newmont is also evaluating the benefits of solar at the Tanami mine in Australia. Bryan Williams, APAC climate change principal advisor, also will lead an investigation for the development of a flag ship solar project of two megawatts at Boddington or Tanami. His team plans to collaborate with the potential joint venture partners Newmont is working with in Nevada to develop the business case and partnering strategies for these Australian projects.
“With increasing energy costs in Australia, and a reliance on coal and diesel generation in the mining sector, it makes good sense to seriously consider the benefits of renewable energy such as PV solar at our operations,” Williams said. “Technological advances have reduced the price of solar, and with a carbon constrained economy on our doorstep, it further increases our business case for solar.”
November 30, 2010
Mine Recognized for Water Smarts
Cajamarca, Peru
One Newmont mine has taken sustainable water use to a new level, earning acclaim twice this year as a result and forging an agreement to ensure an ongoing supply.
Minera Yanacocha recently received the III Social and Environmental Responsibility Prize for outstanding water management at the ExpoMINA Peru 2010 Conference. Earlier this year, the Peruvian Environmental Ministry also awarded the operation with its Business Eco-efficiency Prize for 2010 in the water eco-efficiency category.
The operation also signed an agreement with national and regional government representatives and civil society organizations committing to implement policies for sustainable water use in mining projects and sharing best practices.
Since its development, Minera Yanacocha has worked to store and provide enough water for not only mining operations, but also for nearby landowners and farmers. It built the enormous San Jose reservoir, which – along with Yanacocha's treatment, permanent monitoring and water storage systems – is now linked to rural projects that directly benefit the recipients' agricultural production.
Water from the reservoir also flows to family reservoirs and technical watering systems, which allow agricultural activities to take place throughout the year rather than only during the rainy season.
November 30, 2010
Newmont North America Achieves Climate Registered Status
Chicago, Illinois
Newmont is among the leading North American companies honored this year by The Climate Registry (TCR) for achieving "Climate Registered™" status. TCR is a rigorous program that requires participating companies to measure their carbon footprint, verify the findings with an independent third party and publicly report the results.
Newmont first reported the 2008 greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the TS Power Plant (our largest emitter) to TCR. In 2009, we reported North American emissions (which are currently being verified), and plan to report our global carbon footprint in 2011. Newmont's Climate Change program manager, Michael Aire, said the company is in the process of setting a global GHG reduction goal as well.
"Becoming Climate Registered™ isn't easy," said Diane Wittenberg, TCR executive director. "These organizations have measured and verified their GHG footprints with accuracy and transparency. No greenwashing here; that's real environmental leadership."
According to Dennis Laybourn, environmental manager for Newmont's TS Power Plant, achieving this status was "significant in that Newmont had to develop internal systems to quantify and track GHG emissions from all sources. Verification was particularly rigorous in that the basis for all emission calculations had to be demonstrated."
November 30, 2010
Sound Environmental Management Recognized
PTNNT's president director, Martiono Hadianto (second from right), and senior management posed after receiving the Gold ADITAMA Award in Environmental Management in Mining, and the Trophy in Mining Environmental Management in the mineral mining category from the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. The awards were given for best performance in environmental management in 2010.
November 30, 2010
PTNNT’s Mine Reclamation Praised
West Sumbawa, Indonesia
During a recent visit to the mine, the Indonesian Minister of Forestry said he believes PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara's (PTNNT) environmental management practices should serve as a model for other mining companies and lauded the operation's forestry, tailing and reclamation management practices.
Following the visit, the Minister and PTNNT's president director, Martiono Hadianto, planted a tree.
"We will nurture the tree the Minister planted, and we take it as a catalyst to continue proper land reclamation in accordance with our value to demonstrate leadership in environmental stewardship," Hadianto said.
This tree will grow along with more than 28,000 trees recently planted around the mine, as well as hundreds of thousands of teak trees planted on community land.
November 30, 2010