With construction on track to allow first ore to be delivered to the mill later this year,
OceanaGold says it has so far spent roughly $246 million of the $380 million estimated capital
cost of the Haile project. (Photo: OceanaGold)

Haile mill throughput is planned at 7,000 st/d. Gold production is scheduled to average 126,700 oz/y over a mine life of 13.25 years. Project reserves currently stand at a little more than 2 million oz of gold, while measured and indicated resources total a little more than 4 million oz.

As of late July, construction of all major infrastructure at Haile was tracking on schedule and budget. The run-of-mine pad retaining wall was completed in the second quarter, and the crusher was well advanced. The SAG and ball mills had been installed, with lubrication systems in place to enable precommissioning activities. The fine grinding circuit and carbon-in-leach tanks had been constructed, and construction of flotation tanks was in progress.

Construction of the tailings storage facility, a critical path item, was on schedule. Mining operations had transitioned to 24-hour operations and had stockpiled approximately 0.19 million mt of oxide ore for future processing.

As of the end of the second quarter, approximately $246 million of the $380 million estimated capital cost to develop the Haile project had been spent, while capital spent and committed as of the end of the quarter was approximately $330 million.

OceanaGold is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, and owns and operates three gold mines in New Zealand and a gold-copper mine in the Philippines. The company is forecasting that its total 2016 production will be in the range of 385,000 oz to 425,000 oz of gold, plus 21,000 mt of copper in concentrate.