A significant milestone has been achieved at Newmont Cadia copper-gold mine – the team recently celebrated as the PC2-3 project began self-caving within the orebody – a major technical achievement that confirms the orebody’s amenability to caving and the successful delivery of a world-class, 15 Mt/y panel.

Newmont stated that with 64 of 154 drawbells now complete, cave establishment work will continue, with the project set for completion in 2026. Once fully operational, the PC2-3 cave will be a central hub of Cadia’s operations, contributing to the mine’s safe and efficient performance over the next 15 years. The cave is projected to produce an impressive 1.1 Moz of gold and 440,000 t of copper.

In parallel, work on the 25 Mt/y PC1-2 project is also progressing, with development and mass excavation activities ongoing. Cave establishment is expected to begin in 2026, with caving to commence in 2027. PC1-2 is the next panel cave for execution at Cadia after PC2-3, and its development is expected to recover approximately 20% of Cadia’s published ore reserves.