OPERATIONS 
Chile and Peru
| CERRO CORONA | SALARES NORTE | |||||
| Mining method | Open pit | Open pit | ||||
| Operational infrastructure | Cerro Corona mine operates one open pit and one copper-gold flotation plant. The mining administration and maintenance facilities are located on the mine. | Infrastructure consists of mine and plant facilities, a warehouse, camp, offices, an on-site power station and fuel station, a potable water plant and a water treatment plant. Water is supplied from a well field 12km from Salares Norte. Power will be sourced from an on-site 26MW hybrid microgrid. The hybrid system consists of a 16MW diesel power station and a 7MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant. The PV plant will be constructed during the first year of operation and commissioned toward the end of the projected process plant ramp-up. | ||||
| Mineral processing and TSFs |
The processing plant consists of a conventional primary crushing, SAG/ball milling and flotation circuit to generate a copper-gold concentrate. The final concentrate is thickened and filtered before being stockpiled for road transport (380km) to the Salaverry port for shipment to copper smelters in Japan and Germany. The thickened rougher flotation tails and the cleaner scavenger flotation tails are transferred to the TSF.
The TSF has an ANCOLD consequence classification of Extreme. Construction of the embankments to the final elevation of 3,803mRLhas been completed. The TSF has a remaining LOM storage capacity of ~16.2Mt up to 3,803mRL. The new in-pit TSF will be commissioned in 2025 and will provide storage of 31.5Mt until 2030. |
The process plant, designed to process 2Mtpa, will be located south-east of the main pit at ~4,500m amsl. Ore will be crushed, milled and thickened with thickener underflow pumped to cyanide leaching. Slurry from the leaching stage will feed a counter-current washing and solid liquid separation process through a two-stage counter-current decantation (CCD) circuit. Metals in the solution will be recovered by zinc precipitation in the Merrill-Crowe process. Soluble gold and silver remaining in the tailings slurry obtained from the underflow of the second CCD stage will be scavenged by a CIP circuit. The filtered stack TSF, located above the south mine WSF, has a total design capacity of 24Mt. Filtered tailings will be transported by trucks to the TSF, spread and allowed to dry to near their specific moisture content before being compacted. |
Cerro Corona mine – Peru
In 2023, Cerro Corona produced 122koz gold and 58.9Mlb copper, and processed 6.5Mt ore. Attributable Mineral Reserve estimates net of depletion were 749koz gold, which decreased by 123koz (14%), and 336Mlb copper, which decreased by 63Mlb (16%). Changes in Mineral Reserves are due to depletions.
The Attributable Exclusive Mineral Resource estimates reduced to nil. Measured and Indicated decreased by 660koz (100%) gold and 300Mlb (100%) copper, and Inferred Mineral Resources decreased by 2koz (100%) gold and 1Mlb (100%) copper. The exclusion of any Mineral Resource EMR is due to the in-pit tailings deposition set to start in 2026. Capacity for tailings is limited by the elevation of the water table and the hydrological characteristics of the pit and is fully utilised by tailings from the Reserve. Consequently, there is no longer a reasonable prospect that Mineral Resources will be processed and will be placed as waste.
Salares Norte – Chile
Salares Norte is a high-grade, epithermal gold-silver, open-pit deposit situated in the High Andes of northern Chile. Two adjacent pits are planned, Brecha Principal and Agua Armarga. During April 2020, Gold Fields’ Board formally approved the development of the Salares Norte project on the back of a positive FS and the approval of the EIA by the Chilean authorities. Salares Norte will significantly impact Gold Fields’ future production profile by accelerating production growth and reducing the Group’s AIC.
Luis A. Rivera
Executive Vice President:
Chile and Peru
Mr. Rivera joined Gold Fields in October 2016. Prior to joining Gold Fields, Mr. Rivera was, since 2014, the Vice-President of Operations for Las Bambas and before that, since 2013, was the General Manager of Copper Operations for Glencore Peru and, since 2012, Executive General Manager for all Xstrata Copper Operations in Peru. His career also includes 5 years as General Manager of the large Copper Tintaya and Antapaccay operations, as well as 11 year experience in the Xstrata Copper Operations of Minera Alumbrera, a large gold – copper operation in North Argentina, where he became Tech Services Manager after servicing as Chief Engineer and Senior Geologist. Mr. Rivera has over 29 years’ experience in the copper and gold mining industry, in large open pit copper project and operations in Peru and Argentina, including his direct involvement and leadership in the merge & acquisition of Falconbridge Inc. and BHP Tintaya S.A. by Xstrata Copper as well as the sale of Las Bambas Project by Glencore.
Salient points
ATTRIBUTABLE MINERAL RESERVES
Proved and probable
ATTRIBUTABLE MINERAL RESOURCES (EMR)
Measured and indicated
Inferred
Cerro Corona 99.53% and Salares Norte, 100%
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CHILE AND PERU MINERAL RESOURCES AND RESERVES 2023 PDF - 8MB |  |
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DETAILS FOR OUR CHILE AND PERU KEY STAKEHOLDERS CLICK HERE PDF - 3MB | |
