Telfer
Western Australia
Population: 464 1
Postcode: 6762
Elevation: 292 m (958 ft) 2
Location:
LGA: Shire of East Pilbara
State District: Pilbara
Federal Division: Kalgoorlie
Mean Max Temp Mean Min Temp Annual Rainfall
34.0 °C
93 °F		 19.3 °C
67 °F		 369.8 mm
14.6 in

Telfer is a mining town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, within the Great Sandy Desert. Telfer is 1,900 kilometres (1,181 mi) north-east of the state capital, Perth, and is the state's most isolated town.3 It is home to a large gold and copper mine run by Newcrest Mining, which is the second-largest gold mine in Australia.

Climate

Telfer receives an average annual rainfall of approximately 300mm, although its location relatively close to the Indian Ocean opens the community to the possibility of tropical cyclones. For example, the community was hit by Cyclone Graham in early 2003, receiving 163mm of rain.4

History

The mine opened in 1977 as a joint venture between BHP Billiton and Newmont Mining, who later split into Newcrest Mining. BHP decided to leave gold mining, and sold its stake to Newcrest.5 The Telfer gold mine was expanded in 1991,6 and in June 1995, the mine reserves were 3.8 million troy ounces, with resources at 7.3 million troy ounces. The annual production was 370,000 to 380,000 troy ounces of ore.7 Open cut mining was suspended in August 2000 due to high operating costs, and Newcrest focused on exploratory drilling to find new minerals.5

In 2002, Newcrest Mining announced a redevelopment project worth $1 billion,8 after discovering new mineral areas and a reserve base of some 19 million troy ounces of gold and 640,000 tonnes (710,000 short tons) of copper.9 The redevelopment expanded underground mining areas, deepened open pits, constructed a processing plant and power station, and built a new gas supply line from Port Hedland.105 The focus changed from open pit mining to underground mining, and Telfer became one of Australia's largest gold mines,5 second only to Kalgoorlie's Super Pit.11

In January 2008, Newcrest Mining reduced the mine's annual gold output targets. Newcrest said, "At Telfer, mechanical availability of the open pit mining fleet and the processing of harder ores are impacting the expected production profile for the full year. Telfer site cash costs are expected to [rise] over guidance by 8-9 per cent."12 In June, the mine was affected by the state-wide gas crisis caused by an explosion at Varanus Island. The mine lost 20,000 to 25,000 troy ounces of gold output for June.13 Newcrest obtained interim gas supply from Woodside Petroleum until August, when gas supply from Varanus Island resumed.14

References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Telfer (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2008-09-03.
  2. ^ "Climate statistics for Australian locations: Telfer Aero". Bureau of Meteorology (2008-08-28). Retrieved on 2008-09-03.
  3. ^ "Interesting facts about Western Australia". Landgate. Retrieved on 2008-09-03.
  4. ^ AAP General News (2003). "Cyclone Graham hits WA". The Age. Retrieved on 2008-09-07.
  5. ^ a b c d "Marco Zolezzi, general manager, Telfer gold mine, Western Australia", Australian Mining (2004-09-15). 
  6. ^ "Elsewhere in precious metals... the second phase of the development", Metals Week (1991-03-11), p. 8. 
  7. ^ "Newcrest upbeat on Telfer mine", Reuters News (1996-06-21). 
  8. ^ "Newcrest cold on Telfer raising", The West Australian (2002-03-25), p. 28. 
  9. ^ Phaceas, John (2002-11-20). "Newcrest nod to invest $1b in Telfer", The West Australian, p. 61. 
  10. ^ "Newcrest gets expansion nod", ABC News (2002-08-20). 
  11. ^ Peel, Greg (2007-11-16). "Tantalising Telfer", FN Arena. 
  12. ^ Le May, Rebecca (2008-01-25). "Miner loses friends as Telfer costs jump", Finance, The Daily Telegraph, p. 62. 
  13. ^ Thompson, Dionne (2008-06-27). "Newcrest's Telfer gold output down 25,000 oz on Apache gas stoppage", Metal Bulletin. 
  14. ^ "Telfer gas supply back to normal", The Sydney Morning Herald (2008-08-19). Retrieved on 3 September 2008.