TAHLTAN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – INDUSTRY REPORT 2022
ACTIVE PROJECT
RED CHRIS MINE – NEWCREST MINING Newcrest Mining Ltd. Vancouver, BC newcrest.com CONTACTS GENERAL INQUIRIES
PROPERTY LOCATION & ACQUISITION DATE
PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN THE 2021 SEASON
Newcrest Red Chris Mine (NRCM) is located 80 km south of Dease Lake in Tahltan Territory. NRCM is a joint venture between Imperial Metals (30%) and Newcrest Mining Limited (70%), acquired in August 2019. In February 2020, Newcrest acquired the GJ property, comprising 87 mineral tenures covering almost 40,000 hectares, now included in the joint venture. Both Red Chris and GJ are located 80km south of Dease Lake.
Open pit operations at Red Chris continued through 2021, while planning advanced on a proposed underground block cave expansion (including publication of the Red Chris Block Cave Pre-Feasibility study in October 2021). The associated exploration decline has advanced 765 metres as of January 2022. To date, 98,522 metres of exploration drilling has been completed, and 128 soil samples collected. Drilling has been undertaken in support of the proposed underground expansion. Select historic drill core was transported to the Red Chris Core Processing Area and reclamation activities around the existing camp were completed.
Ben Wither Manager, HSEC + People +10 250 641 4677 ben.wither @newcrest.com.au
COMPANY OVERVIEW & UPDATE Any successes or challenges you’d like to share?
LEADERSHIP
Jon Gaunt General Manager 604 800 9200 ext. 334 john.gaunt @newcrest.com.au
Newcrest congratulates the Tahltan Emergency Management Committee on their recent recognition and award from the Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) for their leadership role in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in communities, and for their collaboration with industry to safeguard the health and safety of everyone living and working in Tahltan Territory. Newcrest have commenced the rollout of its Respect @Work program; an initiative targeted to change the image of the industry and eliminate sexual harassment and discrimination at its operations around the world. In March 2021, Newcrest announced the new discovery of East Ridge at Red Chris, which has the potential to expand the current mineral resource. Later in the year, the first blast was made to commence the underground exploration decline, now officially named the Naghā Decline (after the Tahltan word for “wolverine”). Through the Newcrest COVID-19 Community Support Fund, our Community Relations team has committed over $800,000 to initiatives and projects in Tahltan Territory. The team is currently undertaking a Social Baseline Study in collaboration with the Tahltan Nation.
Number of employees working on your project(s)? NRCM employed over 700 employees in 2021, across operations, exploration, and the block cave project team.
33
Where does the majority of your financing come from year to year? What’s the breakdown of who owns your company and the company market cap? Newcrest finances all activities at site. More info can be found on our corporate website. NRCM is jointly owned by Newcrest Mining Ltd (70%) and Imperial Metals (30%), it is not a publicly traded JV; its majority shareholder, Newcrest Mining Ltd, has a market capitalization of approximately A$18.5 billion.
Has your company purchased or sold any other properties in Tahltan Territory during the last year? In November 2021, Newcrest announced that its intentions to acquire Pretium Resources, the owner of the Brucejack Mine. The transaction is still being finalized at the time of writing.
Tentative plans and hopes for the 2022 season? At Red Chris, 2022 will see our teams actively working on defining the Feasibility Study for the block cave expansion and advancing efforts to establish a permanent office within the territory. Our exploration team will continue drilling and expanding the surface exploration program at Red Chris, while continuing preparations for an initial drill program at GJ.
