Boddington Corp is London’s and Singapore’s only Main gold company and has established itself in the global gold mining industry. Primary concessions are in worldwide and collectively hold 5.5 million ounces of gold resources. Boddington Gold is a multinational Mining company anglo australian of based mineral exploration, development and Operation, It publicly traded mining company with a large portfolio of operating mines and projects across five continents.
Asset concessions operation are in Peru, Boddington Corp. is stakeholder of Barrick International; The Project Lagunas Norte is owned and operated by Minera Barrick Misquichilca S.A. (MBM), a owned Peruvian subsidiary of Barrick. The Lagunas Norte mine is part of the Alto Chicama property. A 2.51% net smelter royalty is paid to Peruvian state company Activos Mineros S.A.C., formerly Centromin Peru S.A. (Centromin). In December 2006, Centromin transferred all of its rights and obligations with respect to the mine to Activos Mineros S.A.C. (Activos Mineros), a state mining company.
Welcome to The Lagunas Norte Operation, Peru
The Lagunas Norte Mine site is located on the 185 km2 Alto Chicama property in the district of Quiruvilca in the Province of Santiago de Chuco, La Libertad Region, north-central Peru, approximately 90 km east of the coastal city of Trujillo and 175 km north of Barrick’s Pierina Mine (Figure 4-1). The property is located at 7º50’ S latitude and 78º15’ W longitude and lies on the western flank of the Peruvian Andes at an elevation of 4,000 MASL to 4,260 MASL.
The Lagunas Norte operation is an excellent operation where the staff have made intelligent and innovative use of the available resources. For example, using solution recirculation to increase the amount of solution going to the leach pad is an excellent idea. It not only provides additional solution to meet the required ratio of solution to ore, but increases the gold grade of the solution which makes the Merrill-Crowe zinc cementation process work more efficient and reduces costs.
Site infrastructure includes the open pit, heap leach pads, crushing facilities, Merrill Crowe recovery plant, on-site facilities (safety/security/first aid/emergency response building, assay laboratory, plant guard house, dining facilities, and offices); related mine services (truckshop, truck wash facility, warehouse, fuel storage and distribution facilities, reagent storage and distribution facilities), and other facilities to support operations. Permanent accommodations are available for all Lagunas Norte employees and visitors and are located approximately three kilometres east and downslope of the Lagunas Norte open pit operations at approximately 3,800 MASL.
The water for process and mining consumptive needs is delivered rain captured on two small lakes. There is plenty of water available for consumptive use now and for the future. At Lagunas Norte, a water management group is in place to carry out all dewatering including pumping, distribution, delivery, and disposal. Lagunas Norte has a positive water balance.
Mine operations are considered a typical truck/shovel open pit operation with a fleet of 184 tonne payload rigid frame haul trucks combined with diesel powered face shovel excavators and front end loaders as the primary loading equipment. Haul trucks are also utilized to transport ROM ore directly to the HLF, along with crushed ore to the HLF for stacking. A fleet of large diesel powered blast hole rigs are employed for production drilling of blast patterns.
Electricity is provided by a private-owned generation company and delivered to Lagunas Norte through a high voltage power line connected to the National Grid in Trujillo.
The Lagunas Norte Mine is accessed from Trujillo, the capital of the La Libertad Region, by driving on a public paved road heading east-northeast from Trujillo to Otuzco for approximately 75 km. At Otuzco, the road splits and a rough, all season public gravel road heads east towards the mine site and beyond. It is approximately 70 km to the mine site turnoff along the gravel road, which currently has sections being upgraded and paved. Approximately 7.0 km before the mine site turnoff is the mine airfield, which has a compacted gravel runway approximately 1.6 km long at 4,180 MASL. From the mine site turnoff it is 1.0 km to the main gate at 4,155 MASL. From the main gate it is approximately 3.0 km to the Lagunas Norte open pit and 6.0 km to the camp facilities at 3,800 MASL. The total driving distance from Trujillo is approximately 150 km one way, and it takes four to five hours for a light vehicle to access the mine site in typical driving conditions. Trujillo is serviced by daily commercial flights from Lima.
The property is considered to have mountain climate. The air temperature ranges from -4°C to +16°C, with an average daily temperature of 7°C. The recorded seasonal air temperature fluctuations are small. The prevailing wind direction is from the north-northeast to east-northeast. The average wind velocity at Lagunas Norte is 17 km/hr, with a maximum recorded of 51 km/hr. Precipitation at Lagunas Norte occurs primarily in the form of rainfall. Dry, wet, and transitional periods can be distinguished during the year. The dry period is observed from June through August, with the average monthly rainfall less than 40 mm. The driest month is July, with the average monthly rainfall of 20 mm. The wet period is observed from October through April, with the average monthly rainfall greater than 100 mm. The wettest month is March, with the average monthly rainfall of 230 mm. The months of May and September may be classified as transitional, with the average monthly rainfall amounts of 89 mm and 79 mm, respectively.
The Project is supported by the local communities. Barrick has a progressive social policy framework, stressing communication and respect, which is inclusive of the local population as well as employees. Environmental, health and safety, and social responsibilities are the cornerstones of the program.