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MINE OF THE MONTH – PORGERA

trucked from the port of Lae in eastern PNG –


a distance of well over 600 km. The mine uses as
much as 160,000 litres of fuel daily, requiring five
36,000-litre tankers every day. Senior workers are
brought in by plane to the mine’s own airstrip or by
helicopter. Many others arrive on site by road.

LOCAL ISSUES
Porgera has contributed, on average, about 15% of
the country’s entire export income over its life so
far. Of royalties from the mine, about 50% are paid
to the provincial Enga Government and the rest
either to the mine landowners or to local entities
or trust funds. The total workforce is currently just
under 2,400, of which 92% are PNG citizens and 8%
expatriates. In addition to the normal production
and service departments you would see elsewhere
in the mining world, the Porgera Joint Venture (PJV)
has groups dedicated to asset protection, socio-
economic development and community affairs.
These have added responsibilities than similar
departments in the developed world, with a much
greater need for resources devoted to protection of
people and company assets – personnel, property
and the gold product itself. Socio-economic
initiatives include funds devoted to health and
education projects for local communities.
The scale of Porgera’s contribution to Porgera and
Enga is huge, particularly given the inability of gov-
ernment to provide these services. This is despite the
background of social change in the area, where since
the mine began commercial production in 1990,
the local valley population has increased from just
5,000 to over 40,000 due to migration of outsiders
into the valley. This is not just mine worker families.
The Porgera area provision of basic infrastructure
such as power, clean water, schools and hospitals is
The gigantic scale of the pit is only visible from the air, seen from the company helicopter a strong pull for people in the surrounding remote

Bouncing back
mountains. On top of this is the fact that many of the
people retain strong tribal traditions (one of which is
conflict) despite no longer living in a fully traditional
environment.
The total gold mined plus still available reserves

under Barrick
figure now stands at 25 Moz and is growing, with
4 Moz having been added in just the past three years.
The current reserves figure is about 2.1 Moz, of which
1.7 Moz were added in 2005. Actual production has
declined from 1 Moz in 2004, to 850,000 oz in 2005

T
and the predicted 2006 full-year figure is 550,000 oz.
The Porgera Joint Venture HE Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea
(PNG) lies at an altitude of 2,200-2,700 m
The steep production performance decline relates
to erosional problems in the west wall area of the
in Papua New Guinea has about 130 km west of Mount Hagen, the
main town in the PNG Highlands and more
pit, where the mudstone overburden above the ore
began to slake on exposure to the elements, making
had its ups and downs in than 600 km northwest of Port Moresby. it much more unstable. It became clear in 2005
the past few years, but has As at Ok Tedi, one of the main issues at the mine
is rainfall – which averages over 3.6 m but in 2005
that action would have to be taken to stop further
subsidence in the form of a US$27 million cutback.
gone from a mine being stood at 5.1 m.
The operation has undergone some major owner-
Mining resumed in the area in June 2006, but it had
taken 18 months since 2004 to bring the situation
wound down to one with ship changes – the current structure is Barrick 75%; under control.
Emperor Mines 20% and the remaining 5% split
an extended mine life and between the Enga Government and local landowners STAGED DEVELOPMENT
renewed sense of value in Mineral Resources Enga Ltd (MRE). Barrick acquired
its stake in early 2006 as part of its Placer Dome buy-
The mill has undergone four stages of improvement
and expansion. Stage 1, comprising a concentrator
out, and the transition seems to have been smooth and leach/carbon-in-pulp (CIP) circuit commenced
– after all both companies are Canadian gold special- operations in 1990, producing gravity concentrate
ists with high production and safety standards. and sulphur flotation concentrate for leaching to
Power comes from the Hides gasfield, while fuel is recover gold and silver. Stage 2 was commissioned

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in 1991 and involved the processing of the sulphide
flotation concentrate and previously stockpiled Stage
1 concentrate in a pressure oxidation circuit.
In 1992, Stage 3 expanded both the underground
mine and mill facilities. Stage 4 further expanded
mining operations and the mill facilities, and
included the addition of a second SAG mill and large
ball mill to increase nominal mill throughput. In 1999,
a new Outokumpu flotation bank was installed to
improve recoveries by re-floating tailings, and addi-
tional oxygen capacity (to total 750 t/d) was added to
increase autoclave throughput. Four gravity concen-
trators were also installed to remove free gold ahead
of the flotation circuit. In 2001, an Acacia reactor was
commissioned to treat the gravity concentrate, and
modifications were made to the grinding and CIP
circuits. During 2003 a contract secondary crusher
was installed to increase the capacity of the grinding
circuit and allow a better match between milling and
oxidation.
Going forward, Stage 5 of the open pit that began
in 2001 involves removing the remaining ore below Weather is highly changeable at PJV due to the operation’s altitude. The town of Porgera is in the background
the West Wall, plus ore left in the bottom of the pit.
Stage 6, on which final stage feasibility is currently ILLEGAL MINING, POWER SUPPLY have to be monitored. Internal theft is also an issue at
being conducted will, if approved, see the whole AND THE HIGHWAY Porgera, and workers are occasionally caught trying
of the steep North Wall of the open pit (up to 56º) Illegal mining has been an issue since the mine to smuggle out high-grade gold ore or concentrate,
pushed back by 100 m as the current pit dimensions began producing, but had escalated in recent years for which there is a no-tolerance policy. While this is
were set when the gold price was sub US$400/oz. to the point where it had begun to affect open-pit not common, there are plenty of willing buyers in the
operations. Illegal miners would regularly go up the nearby town despite security being high.
RIVERINE DISPOSAL highwall, which was extremely dangerous, leading to Safety statistics for the actual workforce are
This is a contentious issue, particularly given the his- injuries and a number of illegal miner fatalities that good – a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR)
tory of Ok Tedi’s disposal into the Fly River, however, the company had to deal with. that is world class and compares favourably with
the PJV is quick to point out that the situation at A perimeter fence has also been constructed, the Australian average for metalliferous mining.
Porgera is quite different. The Porgera treated waste which will be completed by the end of the year, and The Serious Injury Frequency Rate (SIFR) is also
is passed into the Strickland River, and according to national police have been deployed since December good and the mine recently broke its long-standing
PJV only accounts for a 15% increase to the level of 2005 following on from a “hearts and minds” cam- record, going 2 million man-hours without an injury
natural sediments already being carried by the river. paign in co-operation with the national Department requiring anything more than first-aid treatment.
It also empties into a relatively high energy part of of Mining. The police are human rights trained and The Hides transmission line supplies power
the river. Some 8 Mt/y is added from erodible dumps have third party observers. Pit invasions by illegal to the mine and the communities in and around
and 6 Mt/y from tailings. miners have declined from over 1,000 incursions per Porgera. The line runs for nearly 80 km through the
Water quality and riverine sediment levels are week in September 2005 to 2-300 following the po- mountains and across the provincial border from the
monitored at hydrographic stations down the river lice deployment. It is not just the illegal miners that Hides gasfield in the adjoining Southern Highlands
and the fish/plants in the river tested for bioaccu- province. A state of emergency was declared in
mulation. PORGERA TIMELINE the Southern Highlands by the PNG Government
A recent study showed that there was no impact 1938 First alluvial gold discovered in in August due to the deteriorating socio-political
on the health of people living downstream on the Porgera district situation in the province as evidenced by the
Strickland River. The dissolved metals levels are also 1948 Gold source traced to Mount Waruwari escalation in tribal fighting. Many in the western half
far below the government criteria, which are them- by Joe Searson of the province want to break away to form their own
selves based on international requirements. 1975 Exploration JV formed between Placer Hela province and armed conflict is common.
Dome and MIM The other major lifeblood to the mine is the
1979 Consolidated Goldfields joins JV Highlands highway which winds through the PNG
1982 High grade Zone 7 (average 1 oz/t) highlands from the seaport of Lae. The PJV itself
discovered – bankrolls mine development maintains a large part of the road, but its sheer
1989 Special mining lease granted, length, including the fact that it is crosses several
underground mining commences rivers in areas of high rainfall, means that the road
1990 First gold poured is often cut due to landslips and more recently,
1994 Production ramped up with start up bridge failures due to flooding. Diesel looting is also
of open pit a problem, as is maintaining the pylons that support
1997 Placer Dome buys Highlands Gold 25% the power supply to the mine, some of which have
share in Porgera been sabotaged in the past.
2002 Placer Dome acquires further 25% with
Aurion takeover MINING
2003 Durban Roodeport Deep (DRD) The main open-pit fleet consists of 32 Caterpillar 789s
acquires 20% from Oil Search Ltd and five Terex O&K RH200 face shovel hydraulic exca-
2005 DRD stake acquired by Emperor Mines vators. Auxilliary equipment includes eight Caterpillar
2006 Placer Dome acquired by Barrick Gold Corp 777s and one small RH40 excavator. The company
The secondary crushing plant at dawn Continued on page 13

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MINE OF THE MONTH – PORGERA

Continued from page 11 There are two Fuller Traylor 8.5 m x 3.7 m SAG mills
is also considering new equipment for the planned grinding 800 t/h. The second one was installed in the
pushback, which may include larger excavators, such mid-1990s due to the increase in volume throughput
as the RH340 and an upgrade to larger trucks such as as the ore grade declined. The SAG circuit reduces
the Caterpillar 793. A certain proportion of the fleet the ore size to 1-4 mm, which then passes through
(normally five trucks and one excavator) are usually three ball mills, the product of which 80% passing
down at any one time for rotation maintenance. The 106 um and 30% density – this is then fed to the
whole open-pit fleet is managed using Intellimine. flotation circuit. However, in between these steps
The main issue with the mined product is the there are four Knelson gravity separators installed in
sulphur content of the ore. The ideal feed for the 1997, which now represent about a third of the gold
autoclaves is an average of 2.3% sulphur content, recovery. Coarse SAG mill discharge is crushed in two
however, the plant can cope with sulphur of up to 3% cone crushers and returned to the SAG feed.
for short periods. There are no distinct ore stockpiles The efficiency of the process has also been
of different ore grades, with blending achieved by improved by adding some of the flotation reagent
selective mining in the pit and underground. (about 100 g/t ore of potassium amyl xanthate) at
The cloud and visibility issue tends to be a problem the SAG mill stage, which means the newly crushed
in the afternoon and there are periods when produc- PJV operates five O&K RH200s as its main excavator particles are coated with the reagent earlier, improv-
tion has to be halted in one part of the pit but can con- fleet. This one is having a full overhaul ing recoveries.
tinue elsewhere. Tyre-wise, the company is in a better The company estimates that the combination of
position than some. Previous operator Placer Dome had The underground stopes are worked from the bot- Minnovex automation, early addition of flotation
a global agreement with Goodyear which was carried tom up, and down-drilled to make the use of ANFO chemicals and other continuous improvement
through when Barrick bought Placer Dome in 2006. easier. Currently, stopes are infilled with unconsoli- projects has been worth some US$50-60 million
Orica has an explosives plant on-site to import ANFO dated waste, but PJV is considering paste backfill and annually over the past five years. The flotation
and prepare blast set-ups. Blasting is done in the open Golder PasteTec has been involved in this feasibility circuit consists of two main Wemco rougher/scav-
pit every other day and holes up to 220 mm diameter study. This is because the currently mined Central enger banks, which concentrate the ore to about
are drilled with Ingersoll Rand DML blasthole rigs. and North zones are steeply dipping and are within 15 g/t gold and 14% sulphur, which is the grade the
The current portal and stockpile for the under- the competent diorite rock, so unconsolidated fill suf- concentrator autoclaves are designed to deal with.
ground workings is at the 2200 level in the bottom fices. The East Zone that is coming into production is A more recent addition is a bank of Outokumpu cells,
of the open pit. The new entry was made to reduce more shallow-dipping and contains some black sedi- which refloat the Wemco float tailings, boosting
the haulage route from the previous one, which was ments similar to the mudstone in the open pit. This recovery.
at the 2800 level. The underground mine operates may also require shotcreting as opposed to the mesh The final concentrate passes through regrind
a fleet of Caterpillar Elphinstone LHDs (1700, 2800, and rockbolting currently used. In the upper levels, mills, giving a 96% passing 106 um size that results
2900) and AD40 trucks along with Atlas Copco jum- the open pit is very close to the underground mine, in better oxidation in the autoclaves. Before reaching
bos and Sandvik Tamrock longhole drills. Exploration and has begun working into former underground the autoclaves, the ore goes to thickening tanks,
drills include Onrams and Boart Longyear models. tunnels while in places the current stopes are only increasing the density to about 50%. The ore is then
The North Zone underground orebody is currently 20-30 m from the open pit, which is made possible by pumped into four autoclaves using Geho pumps.
being worked with the high-grade East Zone under the hardness and competency of the diorite. The autoclaves process the sulphides to release
development with production start-up planned for the trapped gold, but in doing so produce sulphuric
2007. The East Zone consists of about 1 Mt grading PROCESSING acid, which is dealt with at a treatment plant along
7 g/t. Mining from the Central Zone is now winding The primary crusher is a Fuller Traylor 42 in gyratory with float tailings and tailings from the cyanide leach
down – this is the same orebody exploited by the with an associated 100 mm rock-breaker for crushing circuit. The acid destroys the cyanide structure while
open pit, which will also mine some of the North Zone oversize. In 2004, a secondary crushing circuit was in- the limestone in the flotation tailings neutralises the
when the north face pushback is finalised pending stalled by Australia’s Norden Engineering to get some acid, making the waste suitable for riverine discharge.
the feasibility study. Depth-wise, mining extends from 20% of the primary harder ore down to 20 mm size The autoclave vessels operate at about 200º C and
the 1770 level to the 2170 top level. and increase throughput of the harder but higher 1,750 KPa of pressure. An oxygen plant produces
Deep exploration is also ongoing in order to find grade underground ore. 750 t/d of oxygen to feed this process.
a hoped for intersection of the North Zone with the This incorporates two Sandvik 6800 cone crush- The final feed oxide is leached with cyanide to dis-
east/west trending Roamane fault, the main control ers. The primary gyratory has a capacity of about solve the gold and refined using standard carbon-in-
of mineralisation at PJV. Overall volumes produced 1,200 t/h. The mill is operated using the Minnovex pulp (CIP) extraction, stripping and electrowinning.
from the underground mine only represent about expert system (now part of SGS), which does what The final concentrate is then smelted in an on-site
10% of the PJV total but about 25-30% of the gold as the theoretical best operator would do, taking into furnace and 82-84% Au dore bars (remainder silver)
the ore is higher grade. account all variables. poured. The gold is poured about once a week, and
current production averages about 50,000 oz/mth.

INTO THE FUTURE


The gold price has been the most obvious boost
to the fortunes of Porgera, boosting the focus of
exploration, which will hopefully boost the mine life
through to 2020 and beyond once the East Zone is
in production and the North Wall pushback begun.
Underground, the aim is to find another Zone 7 at
depth, the bonanza find that began commercialisa-
tion of Porgera back in the 1980s.
Now that the West Wall problem has been faced
head-on, the PJV under its new owner and operator
The PJV supports local projects, can now look to the 1 Moz/y mark again – and maybe
such as the Porgera market beyond.

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