Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT) said Thursday that the Quecher Main project at Yanacocha in Peru achieved commercial production safely, ahead of schedule and under budget.
The full project, including future leach pad expansions, is expected to be completed for about $275 million of development capital, below the initial estimate, Newmont said.
Yanacocha is Newmont Goldcorp’s only mine in Peru and is located about 800 kilometers northeast of Lima.
The project takes advantage of Yanacocha’s existing infrastructure
Quecher Main extends the life of the Yanacocha operation to 2027, contributing average annual gold production of approximately 200,000 ounces from 2020 through 2024 at all-in sustaining costs of between $900 and $1,000. The project is expected to generate an internal rate of return of approximately 15% at a $1,200 gold price.
Newmont Goldcorp CEO Tom Palmer said the project takes advantage of Yanacocha’s existing infrastructure to add profitable production from remaining oxide ores while also serving as a bridge to future growth opportunities, including Yanacocha’s extensive sulfide deposits.
The project included development of the Quecher Main pit, two smaller oxide deposits and a heap leach pad.
Yanacocha began commercial production in 1993 and has since produced more than 38 million ounces of gold from open pit oxide and transitional ores processed at Yanacocha’s gold mill and leach pads.
The operation is a joint venture between Newmont Goldcorp (51.35%), Minas Buenaventura (43.65%) and Sumitomo Corporation (5%).