The Waitaki Whitestone UNESCO Global Geopark was designated in May this year as New Zealand’s first and Australasia’s only UNESCO Global Geopark. The designation marks the region’s significance as ‘a single, unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development’.

To celebrate the designation, the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark Trust have partnered with over 35 local businesses and community organisations to put together three days of events and activities spanning the Waitaki District, between Friday 27 October and Sunday 29 October 2023.

Macraes Operation general Manager, Mike Fischer, said the operation was proud to be a founding partner of the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark Trust and to support the festival and the Waitaki District, which had so much to offer.

“The Macraes Operation is a fantastic example of the geology of the district and supports significant development at a regional scale,” Mike said.

“It is a pleasure to launch this self-guided tour and share more information about historic and modern mining in the region, including how safe and responsible mining contributes to the park’s holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development,” he said.

“While it is not possible for the public to be on an operating mine site, the team here at Macraes set up the next best thing, by making parts of our activities visible to the public.”

“From tomorrow, you will be able to start your tour at The Hub and get up close and personal with one of New Zealand’s largest excavators. You will also get a spectacular view into the Frasers Open Pit, which offers an opportunity to see large mining equipment in action.”

“Once you have been to the Hub, hop in your car and use the tour map to guide you to the other locations The stops on the tour include The Hub, the Deepdell Viewing Area, a historic gravel pumping display, a historic stamper battery and Macraes Village. Interpretive panels at each location will provide information about the unique features of the area.”

OceanaGold President and CEO Gerard Bond said he was proud the Company had been approached to be involved as an example of a leading mine closure at their Reefton Restoration Project (former Globe Progress Mine) in the South Island of New Zealand.

“To have our work in New Zealand recognised internationally as a leading example of restoration and mine closure is testament to both the culture and practice of OceanaGold and the tremendous work done by the team at the former mine site,” Mr Bond said.

“Our Purpose – mining gold for a better future – helps define our strategic and day-to-day thinking. This not only helps us to create a better future for all our stakeholders – our people, the communities that host us, our business partners and shareholders – but also makes good business sense,” he said.

“Our Company touches people’s lives and we take our responsibility to them and the environment seriously.”

“At Reefton, we are leaving behind a safe, stable and sustainable site. We show how a former mine site can be returned to nature.”

Based on data from economic consulting and forecasting company, Infometrics, the Mining industry in New Zealand delivered over $490,000 of GDP per filled job in the year to March 2023. Currently there are just over 2,000 full time mining jobs in New Zealand.

Regionally, the mining industry was the single largest contributor to GDP, as it has been for 17 of the last 22 years, in the Hauraki District, where OceanaGold operates the Waihi Operation with 350 employees.

In the Hauraki District, at a value of $640,000 of GDP per filled job in the year to March 2023, mining was almost double that of the second highest productive industry.

As the largest mining operation in the area, OceanaGold takes its health, safety, environmental, social and community obligations seriously and has enormous pride in its investment in people and performance.

New Zealand General Manager Corporate and Legal Affairs, Alison Paul, said with over 30 years of operating in New Zealand, OceanaGold takes a long-term view.

“We believe in applying responsible mining practices to our operations as well as having meaningful relationships with the communities in which we operate,” Alison said.

“For example, last year the Company committed to reduce carbon emissions per ounce of gold produced by 30% by 2030 in support of their goal of net zero operational greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” she said.

The productivity data shows mining has been the most productive industry in New Zealand since 2008, with the Waihi Operation contributing over $127 million dollars in total expenditure (excluding payroll) to the New Zealand economy in 2022 alone.

Opportunities for employees in mining are rewarding as well, with the average salary at the Waihi Operation above $100,000 per annum, well above the national average.

“This economic contribution to New Zealand is the product of years of investment, robust processes, strong relationships with our external stakeholders and most importantly the attitude and dedication of our highly experienced people. We could not be prouder,” Alison said.

OceanaGold directly employs approximately 1,000 people across its Waihi and Macraes Operations in New Zealand.

*Infometrics data for the Hauraki District, available at https://ecoprofile.infometrics.co.nz/hauraki%2bdistrict/Productivity/IndustryProductivity

Just down the road from the Macraes gold mine is the small settlement of Macraes Flat. During the gold rush in the 1860s, it was a busy mining town with around 25 businesses and a population of 500 people. Miners used shovels, pans, cradles, sluice boxes, sluicing and stamping batteries for both alluvial and hard rock mining.

Today, little remains from those times, but one building that has stood the test of time is Stanley’s Hotel.

The stone single-story Stanley’s Hotel was built in 1880s for owner Thomas Stanley. Thomas was the son of a sea captain who took over a ramshackle wooden building in the settlement and engaged a stonemason from Hyde, called Budge, to ‘build me an inn that will last”.

The schist stone for the building was quarried from a hill behind the local Catholic Church and transported by horse and cart to the site. Legend has it the entrance hall was laid with marble destined for St Joseph’s Cathedral in Dunedin that was waylaid along the way.

The stonemason, Budge, was well known for his craftsmanship, but also his great love of beer. It took him five years to complete the Stanley’s Hotel building and during this time he was paid in beer. It has been reported he consumed “72 hogsheads in all”, equivalent to over 51,000 cans today.

Stanley’s was renowned for the quality of its food and hospitality in an age when wayside food and lodging were of great importance in isolated communities. The hotel remained in the Stanley family until 1960.

Today Stanley’s Hotel is the centrepiece of the small settlement of Macraes Flat The building is owned by OceanaGold and leased to hoteliers who welcome patrons daily. The company has spent over $300,000 in earthquake strengthening and refurbishing of the hotel and its outbuildings, which include a billiards room, a stone shed, stables and pig pen.

Another reminder of the early days of gold mining – Callery’s Battery – requires visitors to cross an active mine haul road where large mine trucks cart ore to the company’s Process Plant. When the road is clear a guard signals that it safe to cross, and members of the public can drive their cars to the Golden Point Historic Reserve carpark then proceed on foot to the battery.

Callery’s Battery is New Zealand’s best surviving example of an authentic working stamper battery on its original site. Built in 1902 to serve the Golden Point gold mine, the five-stamper plant operated until the 1950s and processed both gold and scheelite. Hundreds of stamper batteries used to operate across New Zealand, but almost all were sold for scrap in the middle of last century.

In May 2020 Callery’s Battery was listed as a Category One Historical Place on the New Zealand Heritage List. The battery is now protected and looked after by the New Zealand Department of Conservation as an outstanding example of a small-scale stamp battery in original working condition. It shows how a stamp battery was set up to run, with its stamps, drive train and power source all intact and how all the smaller elements in a battery, such as workshops, electrical plant and the forge were arranged.

The OceanaGold chapter in the mine’s story began in 1990. Thirty-two years later, the company’s operations have expanded to the North Island’s Waihi, the Philippines, and South Carolina in the US.

Macraes is New Zealand’s largest active gold mine, both on the surface and underground. Since OceanaGold’s involvement, the mine has produced more than five million ounces of gold, employed more than 3,000 people and contributed a vital $8.5 billion to the New Zealand economy.

Macraes General Manager Mike Fischer says OceanaGold is a modern miner planning for the future.

“We are proudly ingrained in the Otago region’s past and present,’’ Mr Fischer says. “But there are challenges ahead and we are preparing for them.

“We are actively working towards our target of a 30% reduction in Carbon emissions by 2030, and net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in line with New Zealand Government targets.’’

Macraes’ electricity is now generated from 100 per cent renewable sources and the operation is actively working towards decarbonising its fleet as a key part of the OceanaGold strategy to net zero.
“We have a clear action plan to help reach our 2030 goal,’’ Mr Fischer says.

“The company has developed an emissions reduction strategy to provide a pathway to maintain focus and build capability in emissions management across the organisation – with a focus on three of these areas, decarbonisation of mobile equipment, increased use of renewable energy, and energy use/energy efficiency improvements.”

OceanaGold has partnered with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) in a technology demonstration partnership. Macraes Operation will commission an electric hydraulic excavator in early 2023 and will be the first operation in New Zealand to own and operate one of these machines. The benefits of the ‘electric shovel’ include operational cost reduction and a reduction in carbon emissions.

The mine is also investigating renewable energy as a potential post-mining land use. The company is in the advanced stages of preparing a feasibility study for a solar farm to supply electricity to the operation during daylight hours.

“We are also working with our diverse communities as extractive operations expand, and we continue to attract, train and retain a skilled specialist workforce in a competitive global market,” Mr Fischer says.

“We are committed to the future. A future that will continue to provide jobs, ongoing partnerships, local regional and national investment, technological innovation, and environmental sustainability.

“We are currently mining both on the surface and underground. In 2023, open pit ore will continue to be sourced from Deepdell, and waste stripping will commence in earnest at Innes Mills. We expect to have the first stope ore from Golden Point Underground in early 2023 and this will be fully ramped up to replace Frasers Underground by late 2023.”

Watch the video here:

Two new funds aimed at building community capacity and resilience have been added to the Didipio Mine’s substantial community program in line with new terms and conditions agreed to as part of the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) renewal.

The Community Development Fund and the Provincial Development Fund are resourced through an additional 1.5 per cent of the mine’s gross mining revenue to deliver programs that meet the needs of the region and its people. The CDF was launched in July, 2022 in collaboration with the mine’s regulator, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

Didipio Mine’s External Affairs and Social Performance Manager Marjorie Idio said the team was excited about the opportunity to be a catalyst for significant positive social change in the region.

“In funding programs outside the host and neighbouring communities, our strategy is to connect multiple agencies and expand our social footprint to communities in the greater Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino area,” Ms Idio said.

“While we have been deeply involved with our two host provinces over many years through the delivery of our Social Development Management Plan, the Community Development Fund allow us to share the benefits of the Didipio Mine outside our immediate community.

“We hope similar companies can replicate the program in the future, further expanding the social impact and building more resilience across the region.”

The Funds will be administered through a grant program. Project proposals developed by local organisations will need to align with the mine’s seven pillars of benefit-sharing:

1. Infrastructure
2. Enterprise Development
3. Socio-cultural or IP Program
4. Capacity Building
5. Disaster Response/Management and Environment
6. Health
7. Education.

New projects focusing on the infrastructure needs of the region will commence in Q4, 2022.

Each project will receive up to ₱3 Million to provide farm-to-market networks and connections to evacuation centres. However, there will be a strong focus on building capabilities of project proponents to craft complete project proposals – not just one-off construction projects – a skill they can use for future improvement initiatives.

Project Sponsor, Joan Adaci-Cattiling, said the goal of the Community Development Fund was to set up the basis for a self-reliant and resilient community.

“The greatest contribution we can make is the legacy we will leave behind. It’s all about purposeful giving,” Ms Adaci-Cattiling said.

About the Funds

The Community Development Fund is delivered in collaboration and partnership with relevant local government units, community groups, organisations, Indigenous peoples, or Indigenous cultural communities to determine its plan and implementation. Importantly, there is a huge emphasis on widespread participation among multiple community stakeholders to deliver programs that have broad benefits and purpose, and to build effective partnerships to foster learning and continuous improvement.

The Provincial Development Fund prioritises improvements that are meaningful, substantial, and lasting. To achieve this, the Didipio Mine team consults the provincial local government units of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino to ensure the projects and activities funded by the PDF align with their respective provincial development plans and meet the community’s needs.

The publishing of the SEIS has been heralded as an important step in the future of OceanaGold’s Haile Gold Mine.

Now in a 30-day public comment period, the SEIS will undergo a 15-day review period before the final Record of Decision (ROD) is scheduled to be issued.

The ROD and related permits are required to commence development of the Haile underground mine and to expand the operating footprint to allow for additional potentially-acid-generating waste containment facilities, overburden facilities and expanded tailings storage facility.

The proposed expansion includes:

• Development of the Horseshoe Underground (HUG)
• Optimising mill operations to increase capacity from 9,100 tonnes per day to 14,400 tonnes per day
• Expanding the permitted boundary from 4,552 to 5,384 acres
• Increasing Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) capacity from 40 million tonnes to 72 million tonnes
• Increasing Potentially Acid Generating (PAG) storage from 100.1 million tonnes to 150.1 million tonnes
• Increasing overburden storage areas (OSA) from 147.5 million tonnes to approximately 207 million tonnes
• Expanding the average capacity of the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) from 1,200 gallons per minute to 2,400 gallons per minute.

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Americas, David Londono, said publication of the SEIS was a significant milestone for the Company and the community that hosts the Haile Gold Mine.

“Development of the SEIS commenced in 2018 and contained information about the geology, water resources, soils, wetlands, socioeconomics, public health and safety, cultural resources, and other impacts as it relates to proposed expansion,” Mr Londono said.

“We are thrilled to now be moving to the next stage in the permitting process to secure the future of the mine by moving our operations underground and extending its life to 2034.”

Mr Londono said pending approvals, the expanded mine would deliver many local benefits that extended across the supply chain and included direct employment with the mine.

“To deliver the expansion and associated infrastructure, we expect to employ approximately 200 additional people, and we hope the majority of those jobs can be created for people living in Kershaw and the broader Lancaster County.

“It’s been a long time coming, but the SEIS is well considered, and we anticipate it moving forward as it has been published.“Soon we will see the long-term benefits of having a global miner in our region – and that’s something we should be excited about.”

Increasing renewably-generated power, offsetting and electrifying the mining fleet is part of OceanaGold’s plan to increase efficiency and reduce emissions across its operations, as the company works towards an interim 2030 climate change target – to reduce carbon emissions per ounce of gold produced by 30 per cent by 2030.

Recognising the journey will not be linear to reach its broader goal of net zero emissions by 2050, the company is implementing targeted, incremental change and the purchase of an electric shovel at the Macraes Operation is one of many initiatives the company is delivering in the transformation towards less emissions intensive gold production.

Pieter Doelman, Open Pit Mine Manager at the Macraes Operation, said the electric shovel was a significant and worthy investment.

“The Macraes Operation is updating one of its large mining excavators and rather than replacing it with another diesel operated machine, we’re making the switch to an electric powered machine,” Pieter said.

“The value of this investment is most certainly in achieving lower energy and carbon costs at the Macraes Operation, however maintaining the electric motor is also more cost efficient than a diesel motor, so we expect to see long-term savings,” he said.

Supporting the project is the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). EECA works with industry to increase the use of clean and clever energy across New Zealand, and they recently partnered with the Macraes Operation to provide partial funding for the new machine as part of its technology demonstration fund.

Nicki Sutherland, EECA’s Group Manager of Investment and Engagement, said the introduction of an electric hydraulic shovel in New Zealand was a first that could, if successful, be replicated.

“The project is expected to deliver large carbon abatement and energy savings,” Nicki said.

“It will also mean the introduction of a new technology not previously used in mining in New Zealand – and holds potential not only for other sites but also other sectors,” she said.

Greg Scanlan, Acting EVP for Sustainability and Social Performance, said critical, innovative thinking was being applied across all OceanaGold’s operations to identify opportunities at a local level to reduce emissions.

“Technology and innovation are key to decarbonisation and as a responsible miner, we continuously improve and innovate the way we explore, extract and process minerals,” Greg said.

“Clear actions are required to reach decarbonisation and rapid advances in technology and innovation, including electrification, are central to the mining industry’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint,” he said.

“Phasing out diesel use and taking advantage of New Zealand’s high renewable energy supply in the national grid (with over 80% generated from renewable sources), is a key part of our strategy and pathway to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and we fully support the New Zealand Government in their drive to achieve this common goal.”

“As the first miner in New Zealand to use an electric hydraulic shovel, we are looking forward to seeing its benefits across productivity, cost reduction, reliability and the measurable reduction of carbon emissions at Macraes.”

In late October Macraes celebrated an important milestone – first production from the new Golden Point Underground, with five thousand tonnes of ore being moved to the mill for processing.

Golden Point Underground is OceanaGold’s newest underground mine, having commenced development in 2020. The project was one of a number of recent underground and open pit expansions at Macraes and will soon replace operations at Frasers Underground.

Underground Mine Manager, James Isles, said the team delivered first production on schedule despite encountering challenging ground conditions in the upper section of the Golden Point decline.

“To ensure we were developing a decline that delivers long-term stability and safety, we implemented a rapid cable bolt installation system,” James said.

“Using the new system, the anchors can be drilled and secured by a jumbo operating at the face as part of the normal ground support cycle and encapsulated using pumpable resin by the support crew when they come in to charge the heading.”

“Cable bolts are used to stabilise the walls and roof of the drives and the new system is much more efficient.”

Macraes Operation General Manager, Mike Fischer, said innovation like this was central to the mining approach at the Macraes Operation.

“Macraes started mining in 1990 with a life of seven years. We recently surpassed 31 years of continuous mining, and in large part that’s down to the quality of the team, their commitment to safety, community, our environment, and always innovating,” Mike said.

“Every day we focus on the partnerships, technologies and skills we need to sustainably mine gold for many years to come. As we look ahead, this includes more efficient production, while lowering our emissions profile,” he said.

“We continually look to the future and have recently conducted a Climate Change Risk Assessment. This is an important step in the development of our plans to address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions and will support the OceanaGold Corporate target to be Carbon Neutral by 2050.”

Having just completed his second month as General Manager, Mike said that although the Macraes Operation might be considered a mature mine, after 31 years of continuous operation there is the potential for the mine to be producing for another 30 years.

“Macraes is a long-life mineral precinct that continues to be responsibly developed to deliver positive outcomes for all stakeholders,” Mike said.

“We’ve operated for over 31 years and produced over five million ounces of gold. In late 2020 we delivered our single longest life of mine extension, of eight years, and we are working to produce around 1.1 million ounces of gold over that time,” he said.

“We’re proud to be contributing to economic growth. Our operation accounts for approximately 20% – 30% of the local economy and in 2020 we provided employment for around 1,000 people, invested over US$124 million with local and national suppliers and contributed over US$24 million in taxes, rates and royalties.”

The Macraes Operation is currently operating in three open pits (Coronation, Frasers and Deepdell) and two underground mines (Frasers Underground and Golden Point Underground).

One of New Zealand’s oldest mines is getting a technological makeover, with equipment and a digital transformation playing a key part in boosting output and making it the country’s most technologically advanced underground mine.

The Martha Underground Mine is part of OceanaGold’s Waihi Operation, in the town of Waihi on New Zealand’s North Island. First operated in 1879, the mine was one of the world’s greatest gold mines back in its day, until a drop in the gold price saw the mine gate shut in 1952. By then, 175km of tunnels had been driven into the quartz of Martha Hill.

A rising gold price in the 1980s reignited interest in Martha from the then newly-established, Waihi Gold Mining Company, with the Martha open pit mine opening in June 1988, before being acquired by Newmont in 2002.

Today, the mine is owned by OceanaGold, which bought the operation in 2015. After the acquisition, OceanaGold quickly established a significant exploration program and introduced technology to improve the operation’s performance and output.

Waihi Operation General Manager, Matthew Hine, said the company was very pleased with the progress made at the new Martha Underground.

“Development of the Martha Underground kicked off in February 2019, achieved first gold production in mid-2020 and continuous milling this year,” Matthew said.

“Martha Underground is one of a number of exciting opportunities for the operation. In July 2020, we released our Waihi District Study, which outlined the potential for an extended mine life for Waihi to 2036 from the Martha Underground, Wharekirauponga (WKP) Underground, Gladstone Open Pit and a cutback of the existing Martha Open Pit.”

“We continue to be very excited for the future. Expanding Waihi and developing the Wharekirauponga Underground would bring significant economic, social and environmental investment along with hundreds of additional jobs.”

Not bad for an old gold mine that has endured a stop-start existence.

OceanaGold recently invested in Sandvik equipment for Martha Underground, including three new LH517i loaders complete with Sandvik’s AutoMine remote bogging product, two TH551i trucks and a DL431 production drill. Two new DD421i development drills fitted with 10/16 split feeds are expected on site soon to complement the existing fleet.

Waihi Underground Mine Manager, Alex Watkins, said the AutoMine system allows for one bogger operator to simultaneously manage multiple stope locations, from surface.

“The tonnes bogged per hour rates we are seeing from implementation of the new AutoMine system are a 15% improvement on what we had previously. We are seeing less wear on our bogging fleet as the remote paths are strategically mapped and tramming speeds are set before remote activities start,” Alex said.

“The equipment and its technology are supported by a SMART Centre, operating on the surface 24hrs a day. It acts as the gatekeeper for an array of digital information, broadcasting operational performance that ranges from primary pump station dewatering rates, through to ventilation draw and operator cycle time. It interfaces as a suite of interactive reports, which the operations team interrogate as part of the continuous improvement process to de-bottleneck the operation.”

Two such focus areas are reducing mine profiles and improving truck efficiencies.

“Reduced ore drive profile sizes have recently been reviewed with careful consideration given to our downhole drilling requirements and ore body geometry. A reduction in the cross-sectional area throughout our ore drives will have a range of benefits including faster development rates reaching stope fronts earlier, reduced costs and higher development ore tonne grades delivered to the ROM,” Alex said.

Along with the new TH551i trucking fleet demonstrating greater payloads and tramming speeds, and to further improve efficiencies, OceanaGold installed ventilation door switches in the dashboard of the truck cabins. The switches remove the need for trucks to stop on the main travel way.

“The vent doors are now remote controlled by a switch built into the truck, to prevent them  from stopping on the decline. Across the truck fleet, stopping on the decline was equating to up to 5,000 lost hours per year – so we have essentially added a new truck into our fleet without absorbing the cost of purchasing one. We will also see less mechanical wear and premature failure to truck transmissions and final drives,” Alex said.

For Alex, helping get the Martha Underground operation up and running is a fresh challenge. He swapped the red dust of Western Australia for the cooler climes of Waihi a couple of months ago to take over as Waihi Underground Manager. A residential worker, Alex lives about three minutes from the mine.

“I’d been hearing about Waihi here and there, the mine’s location and the iconic history interested me,” Alex said.

“Most of the mine workers are local to the area. The mine provides excellent community support to Waihi and nearby towns.”

Alex reckons he got to Waihi at an interesting time, with development of the Martha Underground ramping up alongside production.

“Development is still very much a focus area and we are trending well with our physicals, increasing and over achieving on our development rates are critical to opening up new stoping areas early, the key is to get to steady state production, safely and ahead of schedule,” Alex said.

“My job is to make the project efficient, cash-flow positive and turn out a self-funding site safely.”

On 17 August 2021, New Zealand’ Prime Minister announced at an evening press conference that New Zealand would move into a Level 4 lockdown at midnight that night, following a positive community case of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Since the start of the pandemic, New Zealand has had only limited cases of COVID-19 and has taken swift action under a four-level alert system to prevent the spread of the virus and protect New Zealanders’.

“We acted immediately,” said Dan Calderwood, Health, Safety and Environment Manager at OceanaGold’s Waihi Operation, in New Zealand’s North Island.

“With the Delta strain being more contagious and spreading rapidly across the globe, we had prepared for further COVID-19 related lockdowns,” he said. “We had recently undertaken scenario planning as part of the rollout of our COVID-19 Management Plan across the operation,” he said.

“In terms of what the lockdown looked like, specifically for Waihi, we needed to work with local government authorities and immediately ceased operations for two weeks in line with Alert Level 4 requirements.”

Outside Auckland, (which at the time of publishing is operating under Alert Level 3), New Zealand moved to Alert Level 3 on 31 August and Alert Level 2 on 7 September.

Eighteen months into the pandemic and with mining operations located across New Zealand, the United States and the Philippines, and offices in Australia and Canada, OceanaGold’s corporate policy and localised systems are now well embedded.

OceanaGold Health and Safety Manager, Bernie Murphy, said the company needed to ensure its operations and associated human resources remained flexible and adaptable.

“As part of this, communication with our employees is key, especially at the start of a lockdown period,” Bernie said.

“We need to be clear around who can and who can’t work remotely, which takes into consideration the type, nature and location of roles, and we need to provide comfort and security around wages, government subsidies and other entitlements,” she said.

“We all understand and can appreciate the impacts that lockdowns can have on health and wellbeing, and as a responsible miner we have a duty of care to make sure our employees, contractors and the broader community are safe. That includes providing support services to those who need it.”

OceanaGold’s COVID-19 response strategy is focused on prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. The management measures fall into three key areas:

• Minimise the risk of employees’ contracting or spreading COVID-19 at work or during transit to or from work
• Have a well-informed workforce that can self-manage to reduce exposure risks to themselves and their families
• Develop specific and stringent operational continuity plans that reflect the specific requirements at each of our offices and operations and prevent our workplaces from becoming a potential source of transmission.

Key to implementation is an awareness of, and engagement with, regulatory agencies in each of its operational jurisdictions. OceanaGold also subscribes to the advice of the World Health Organisation and is consistently reviewing industry best practice to assess opportunities to reduce exposure to the virus.

Vaccination

In early 2021, with global vaccination programs commencing, OceanaGold released its COVID-19 Vaccination Statement of Position, outlining a commitment to support equitable global distribution of vaccines in line with jurisdictional strategies, programs and goals.

To achieve this OceanaGold has commenced planning for a workplace program to facilitate and support the uptake of vaccinations. In doing so, the company supports local, regional and national vaccination strategies and timelines.

*At the time of publishing, Auckland was at Alert level 3 with the rest of New Zealand at Alert Level 2.

When describing what it’s like to work as a geologist for multinational gold miner OceanaGold, Chief Geologist Jon Moore says there is a real sense of achievement as projects develop into operating mines.

“Much of what we do is about combining geological observations from rock exposure and drill core with geochemical assays* to produce statistical estimates,” he said. “We need statistics because we typically only assay three or four teaspoons-worth of sample for each Olympic swimming pool-sized volume of rock. And those teaspoons might only have one or two parts per million of gold in them.”

“Evaluating a new project is a team effort – geologists, engineers, metallurgists, environmental scientists, safety, legal and community specialists to determine the risks, value and opportunities.”

“There’s a huge responsibility that comes with that.”

And with 25 years’ experience at OceanaGold, Jon has been involved in much of the company’s growth and success, from its original home at Macraes in New Zealand’s South Island, to its expansion in-country, and then internationally to operations in the Philippines and the United States.

“The company started in 1990 as an open pit operation at Macraes and by 2008 had successfully added the Frasers Underground at that operation, and the Globe Progress Mine at Reefton in New Zealand’s South Island,” he said.

“During that period, OceanaGold built technical capacity and team culture, positioning us to develop Didipio.”

The Didipio Mine in the Philippines provided a step change in terms of challenges: operating internationally, learning to operate in another culture and tropical climate, building road access and infrastructure in a remote location, becoming a first-time copper producer, and listing under the TSX regulatory framework.

“Initially, the geological challenges were to rebuild the gold-copper estimate from first principles, starting with the validation of existing geological and geochemical data,” he said.

“Much of the data was traced back to boxes of dust-laden electronic drives and hard copy reports accumulated over the years. It was fascinating work, and the project owes much of its success to the dedication of previous workers.”

Jon said once mining commenced, the geology team’s focus was no longer solely on the mining of ore with work continuing across all stages of a mine’s development.

“Before we commit to a project, we look at the quantity and quality of the orebody, we assess the opportunities for exploration success and growth as well as any environmental and other considerations,” he said.

“Once the operation is successfully commissioned, we transition to operational support, mentoring and governance functions. More recently the focus has been on building common systems across our operations.”

With operations across three continents, OceanaGold’s mines comprise remarkably diverse geology contexts which require different approaches to estimation and mining, but the underlying processes are the same.

“The deposits range from narrow sub-vertical gold-silver vein deposits at Waihi, to moderately-dipping metasediment-hosted gold-silver mineralisation at Macraes and Haile, through to the sub-vertical gold-copper porphyry orebody at Didipio,” Jon said.

“Each brings their own challenges during the technical study and project development phases.”

Jon said there was significant growth potential at all OceanaGold operations with the Waihi Operation a great example of the ‘long game’ in the mining industry.

He said OceanaGold acquired the mine in 2015, seeing large growth potential in the Martha deposit as well as in the district in general. The company received consent to develop the Martha Underground in early 2019, which will extend the life of the Waihi mine by many years.

“The extensive mining history at Waihi, spanning approximately 140 years, not only reflects a world-class gold endowment, but also an evolved and highly skilled geology and mining culture,” he said.”

“Historical mine sections and plans allowed the Waihi geology team to reconstruct the architecture of the entire Waihi Mine vein system.”

“A three-dimensional block model was created which provided the framework for conceptual mine planning as well as the basis for staged infill core drilling to incrementally improve our confidence in the geology and mineralisation and prove up resources and reserves.

“Six years on, the Waihi development pipeline speaks for itself.”

In 2021, with the Martha Underground mine now in production OceanaGold has commenced a process to extend the life of mining through the development of the Waihi District including the proposed Waihi North and Martha Open Pit Projects.

*An assay is a process of analyzing a substance to determine its concentration, composition or quality, typically used in the mining industry to refer to tests of mineralisation or minerals.

OceanaGold’s highly skilled Mines Rescue and Emergency Response Teams manage all emergency response equipment and implement the operational Emergency Response Program at each of our operations.

The teams are trained and certified in all areas of incident response including fire, underground search and rescue, vertical rope rescue, vehicle extraction, pre-hospital emergency care, hazardous material response and medical and accident response. They facilitate emergency response training onsite, and within host and adjacent communities as required or requested.

As part of our Waihi Operation’s commitment to the community, we have established strong relationships with local emergency services to assist with community events such as rope rescues, assisting at traffic accidents, and providing additional help to the local Coast Guard.

“Regular exercises and liaison with these groups has broadened the team’s experience and also allowed the community emergency response units to be aware of the equipment and skills the Mines Rescue Team has to offer,” said Waihi Operation Emergency Response Coordinator Jed Moriarty.

To ensure team members maintain strong physical fitness to assist in these events, each year they are required to complete a Physical Competency Test (PCT). At our Waihi Operation, this involves completing a series of tasks within a one-hour period while wearing an open circuit breathing apparatus. The course, which must be completed twice by each team member within one hour, includes weight-bearing exercises involving up walking up steep inclines, over sets of stairs, filling a drum with wet sand and crawling through confined tunnels. Our Macraes Operation team members undergo a similar program called a ‘Functional Capacity Test’.

“The goal is to record a low heart rate at the completion of the course, and after a 10-minutes rest, bring their heart rate down to as close to their resting heart rate as possible,” Jed said.

Each year our Mines Rescue Teams from Waihi and Macraes participate in the Leukaemia Foundation’s Sky Tower Stair Challenge to raise funds for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.

This event sees firefighters and emergency rescue teams from throughout New Zealand gather in Auckland in full rescue equipment and take on the Sky Tower Stair Challenge – 328 metres, 1103 steps, 51 flights of stairs to the top of the Sky Tower. In 2021 the teams raised over NZ$41,000 to support Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.

The participants are the first to admit the climb is not for the faint hearted but point out they already have a good level of fitness to build on. They say the real challenge is fundraising, but they have been generously supported by the company, businesses and individuals in the past.

Macraes Emergency Response Coordinator  Steve Renton said: “Nothing can really prepare you for what you are going to encounter on the day, and having done it about six times now, it’s just a case of start at the bottom and keep on going till you get to the top.”

At our Haile Operation, the focus for our Underground Rescue Team has been preparing for underground mining and the emergency response challenges this presents, with equipment being purchased and a new training regime being implemented.

Trainer Rusty Duncan said there were strict regulations in place for both equipment and training. “You need 20 hours of BG4 training, 50 hours of medical training, 50 hours of HAZMAT and 50 hours of confined space training and then there’s rope rescue training on top of that,” he said.

To assist with this, the team used three shipping containers and large tubing to build an underground environment that closely simulated an underground emergency situation.

Rusty said the team’s goal had always been to do as much training in house as possible.

“I want other Mine Rescue teams to look at us and see our training facility and think it’s something they would want to come to,” he said.

As the largest gold mining operation on the east coast of the United States, Haile’s Underground Rescue Team will be the only gold mining rescue team in the area.

Trainer Genalee Jones, who joined the Haile team with prior underground experience, says the team is more than up for the challenge.

“I’ve seen a lot of mine rescue teams. And I’ve seen a lot of competition teams. From day one, this is the best group I’ve seen. We’re not a bunch of co-workers. We’re family.”

Brand new challenges await, but the group is eager to keep going and proud to look back at how far the journey has taken them.

“I’m really looking forward to this. We’re in this together and we’re going to support each other just like families do,” Genalee said.

It has been nearly 200 years since gold was first discovered on the property of Captain Benjamin Haile in South Carolina. Today, OceanaGold’s modern day Haile Gold Mine carries on area’s long tradition of pouring gold using the very best state-of the-art and environmentally conscious technology and techniques.

OceanaGold celebrated the first gold pour at the modern Haile Gold Mine in 2017, starting a new chapter in the rich history of the region. Less than a year later, researchers with the prestigious Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina released a detailed analysis of the Mine’s socio-economic impact on the area, taking into account the anticipated life of the operation. The economic impact report concluded what local residents had been saying in recent years: the modern-day gold mine was breathing life back into an economically declining town.

Kershaw, South Carolina, has a population of around 2,400 and sits less than 6 miles from the processing operation at the mine. Although gold mining is part of the town’s history, its economic roots were in textiles. In the mid 1970’s, like in many other parts of the country, the textile industry began to close factories in the United States and move their operations overseas. Kershaw was not immune to the drastic economic shift, and the town’s residents soon found themselves out of work and forced to look elsewhere for jobs. The locally owned small businesses that once provided support to the community started to close, the houses and streets started to empty as families moved away, and the town itself seemed to grow quieter. For the following two decades, Kershaw would fight for its survival. Then in 2007, gold was rediscovered at Haile, and Kershaw was given a new chance at prosperity.

In 2021, with Haile Gold Mine at the heart of its economic renewal, Kershaw finds itself invigorated and looking brightly towards the future. With more than 800 people (including contractors) working at the 24-hour mining operation, families are moving back to the area, new businesses are opening up, and renewed hope for this small town has sprung forth.

The numbers back up this renewed sense of hope. According to the Economic Impact Analysis, the Haile Gold Mine generates US$87 million each year in positive economic impact to Lancaster County, where the mine is located. According to researchers, the US$87 million “figure reflects the dollar value representing all final goods and services produced in Lancaster County that can be attributed (either directly or indirectly) to the mine’s operations. This impact corresponds to 367 jobs and US$26 million in labor income that would not exist otherwise.”

“When expanding the analysis parameters to include the surrounding four-county region (Lancaster, Kershaw, York, and Richland counties), the economic impact of the Haile Gold Mine increases to $162 million annually – which is associated with 684 jobs and US$48 million in labor income.”

Widening that analysis to the state of South Carolina, researchers concluded the Haile operation generates US$191 million in positive economic impact each year.

That positive economic impact stems from significant investment in reopening the Haile Gold Mine. Since 2007, more than US$1 billion has been invested at Haile. In that same timeframe, the total payroll has topped US$200 million. That figure does not include the number of indirect jobs generated by the Haile Gold Mine which University of South Carolina researchers estimate is sizable.

According to the report, “Although the Great Recession that occurred from 2007 to 2009 caused massive employment losses in Lancaster and Kershaw counties, these counties also experienced zero positive employment gains during the five years leading up to 2007. By contrast, between 2009 and 2016, employment growth in both counties have consistently outpaced the statewide average. These major changes in employment patterns have been due in part to the economic activities associated with all exploration, permitting, and construction that has been taking place.”

The people holding these jobs are shopping at local stores, buying homes and revitalizing the area. That same influx of economic activity has continued during the past four years of commercial operation at Haile, including during the 2020 global pandemic. Now in 2021, the Haile team is looking ahead at the possibility of an expanded operation and additional investment.

OceanaGold has submitted an application to commence underground mining at Haile. If approved by federal and state regulators, underground mining would generate an additional 200 direct jobs on site and capital investment of US$110 million – further growing the Haile Gold Mine’s economic impact in the region and its significant place in history.

For 30 years, OceanaGold has contributed to excellence in the mining industry by delivering innovative solutions, sustainable environmental and social outcomes and strong returns.

In 1990, OceanaGold poured its first gold bar at the Macraes operation in the South Island of New Zealand. Thirty years on, as it celebrates its anniversary, the miner is about to commence the development of three new projects at the Macraes Operation.

President and CEO, Michael Holmes, said 2020 has been a year unlike any other and that even though OceanaGold was celebrating its 30th anniversary amidst challenging times, the team’s drive, industry expertise and experience navigating market cycles guided the company forward.

“We have a strong and sustainable future ahead of us. Our organic growth pipeline represents decades of opportunities for our company and is one of the best in the gold industry,” Michael said.

“I’m most proud of our people. Our company is built on the passion, resilience, progressive thinking and expertise each member of the OceanaGold team brings to our world class operations every day.”

 OceanaGold currently operates the Waihi and Macraes operations in the North and South Islands of New Zealand, the Haile Gold Mine in South Carolina, USA, and the Didipio Mine in The Philippines.

New Zealand

With an initial mine life of seven years, Macraes has since gone on to be the lifeblood of the company and today, stands as New Zealand’s largest active gold producing mine, having produced over five million ounces of gold since that first pour. With consents received, work is starting on the new Golden Point Underground and additional open pit expansions.

The modern Globe Progress Mine near Reefton on the West Coast in the South Island of New Zealand opened in 2006 and just over 610,000 ounces of gold was mined from the open pit operation between 2007 and 2016. Now known as the Reefton Restoration Project, the site is a leading practice mine closure and rehabilitation project. Central to the project is the re-establishment of vital ecosystems in the new post-mining landscape.

The Waihi region in New Zealand’s North Island has a long history of discovery, development and successful production. When OceanaGold acquired the Waihi Operation in 2015, the company committed to extending the life of the mine, which was delivered with the start of the Martha Underground development in 2019. In July 2020, OceanaGold released the Waihi District Study, a Preliminary Economic Assessment that identified significant and exciting opportunities to expand the existing operation at Waihi and the potential for a new underground mine at Wharekirauponga to the north.

The Philippines

In 2006, OceanaGold acquired the Didipio Copper-Gold Project in the Philippines and developed it into a world class gold-copper operation. Early construction commenced in 2010 and commercial open pit operations began in 2013. In 2015 the operation transitioned from open pit to underground.

Over the years, OceanaGold has built partnerships with the communities, government and businesses that hosted and helped run the operation. Since commencing operations in 2013, over US$890 million has been invested in procurement, wages, training and education, payments to government, community development and environmental partnerships.

OceanaGold President and CEO, Michael Holmes, said Didipio is an example of how to deliver responsible and profitable mining that genuinely cares about shared benefits for people and the environment.

“To date, the team has achieved one of the best safety records globally and demonstrate how mining can contribute to skills development, job creation and livelihood opportunities for local communities. We are committed to rehire hundreds of workers and restart operations once the operation’s Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement is renewed – we are ready and waiting for that opportunity,” Michael said.

USA

In 2015, OceanaGold acquired the Haile Gold Mine in South Carolina, USA, and continued its development. The first gold from the modern Haile Gold Mine was poured in January 2017 and commercial production commenced in October that year.

In September 2020, OceanaGold announced the updated Haile Technical Report which demonstrates long-term value and significant organic growth opportunity for the operation, including the expansion of open pit mining and a new underground opportunity.

 A bright future ahead

OceanaGold continually explores new opportunities at each of its operations, with a focus on delivering stakeholder value, sustainability and contributing to the communities it works and lives in.

Looking to the future, OceanaGold’s President and CEO, Michael Holmes, said their most promising growth projects were now coming online, and this means building three new underground mines, expanding three open pits and continuing to explore the greater Waihi district.

“We believe the delivery of these projects translates to real value for current and prospective shareholders over the long-term. OceanaGold is a resilient and dynamic gold miner with a strong and sustainable future. Our organic growth pipeline is one of the best in the industry, representing decades of opportunity for our company, and my team and I look forward to delivering that value,” Michael said.

“We’re mining gold for a better future. While this year has had its challenges, we look forward to delivering enduring value through innovation, performance and sustainable growth,” he said.

Today marks a milestone. It’s 30 years since we poured our first gold bar at the Macraes Operation in New Zealand.

For 30 years, we contributed to excellence in our industry by delivering innovative solutions, sustainable environmental and social outcomes and strong returns.

Back in November 1990, the company was called Macraes Mining Company Ltd and the operation had a mine life of seven years. Macraes has since gone on to be the lifeblood of the company and today, stands as New Zealand’s largest active gold producing mine, having produced over five million ounces of gold since that first pour.

Over the last 30 days we have celebrated ‘Our Journey to 30’, taking a trip down memory lane to look back at our history and the stories that shaped our culture and make us the company we are today.

We’ve celebrated the backbone of our company – our people – and the opportunities that shaped us to be a modern, high-performing and responsible miner.

President and CEO, Michael Holmes, said 2020 has been a year unlike any other and that even though OceanaGold was celebrating our 30^th amidst challenging times, the team’s  drive, industry expertise and experience navigating market cycles guided the company forward.

“We have a strong and sustainable future ahead of us. Our organic growth pipeline represents decades of opportunities for our company and is one of the best in the gold industry,” Michael said.

“I’m most proud of our people. Our company is built on the passion, resilience, progressive thinking and expertise each member of the OceanaGold team brings to our world class operations every day,” he said.

Looking back

At our Waihi and Macraes Operations in New Zealand and at the Haile Gold Mine in the United States, mining spans centuries.

Our Haile Gold Mine is the oldest and longest-operating mine in North America – pre-dating the Californian gold rush by a generation. Gold was first discovered in the region in 1827, in a stream on the property of Captain Benjamin Haile. Mining started two years later and the mine was already 60 years old when the neighbouring town of Kershaw was established. Between 1829–1993 the Haile Mine produced over 360,000 ounces of gold. We poured the first gold from the modern Haile Gold Mine in January 2017 and the current life of mine extends to 2031+.

James Crombie, a local prospector, first discovered alluvial gold in Deepdell Creek in 1862, starting a gold rush in the Macraes region. The first ore body worked at Macraes Flat was the Duke of Edinburgh in 1875. The Golden Point mine opened in 1889 and was a significant and successful scheelite (tungsten) and gold producer. The Macraes Operation continues to have an extraordinary journey of efficiency and adaptation. The operation’s success stems from the high level of expertise and innovation of its employees – an integral aspect since its modern beginnings in 1990.

At Waihi, John McCombie and Robert Lee discovered gold on Pukewa, also known as Martha Hill, in 1878. Underground mining commenced a year later and by 1882 the first stamper battery was in operation. The original underground Martha Mine closed in 1952. For 70 years the mine employed a workforce averaging 600 people, extended to a depth of 600 metres, and produced 5.6 million ounces of gold and 38.4 million ounces of silver. We acquired the Waihi Operation in 2015 and current mine life extends to 2036+.

While some of our operations are much older than our company, we are proud of the history and legacy of each.

A modern mining era

After starting as Macraes Mining Company Ltd in 1990, we acquired the Reefton Goldfield in New Zealand in 1991. The modern Globe Progress Mine opened in 2006 and just over 610,000 ounces of gold was mined from the open pit operation between 2007 and 2016. Now known as the Reefton Restoration Project, the site is a leading-practice mine closure and rehabilitation project. Central to the project is the re-establishment of vital ecosystems in the new post-mining landscape.

OceanaGold Ltd. was established in 2003 and is listed under “OGC” on the Australian and Toronto Stock Exchanges. Throughout our history we have proudly advanced  knowledge in our field and delivered award-winning initiatives driven by a commitment to social, economic, operational, and environmental sustainability.

In 2006 we acquired the Didipio Copper-Gold Project in the Philippines and developed it into a truly world class gold-copper operation. Early construction commenced in 2010 and commercial open pit operations began in 2013. In 2015 the operation transitioned from open pit to underground and in 2018 we commissioned the first ever paste plant in the Philippines,  which meant underground workings could be safely backfilled after mining activities were completed.

In addition to technical innovation at Didipio, we built partnerships with the communities, government and businesses that hosted and helped us run the operation. Since commencing operations in 2013, we have invested over US$890 million in procurement, wages, training and education, payments to government, community development and environmental partnerships.

While restrictions on the operation have meant we’re not operating the Didipio Mine right now, it’s an excellent gold and copper producing asset, with an outstanding workforce and best practice standards.

OceanaGold President and CEO, Michael Holmes, said Didipio is an example of how to deliver responsible and profitable mining that genuinely cares about shared benefits for people and the environment in the Philippines.

“To date, the team has achieved one of the best safety records globally and represents how mining can contribute to skills development, job creation and livelihood opportunities for local communities. We are committed to rehire hundreds of workers and restart operations once the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) is renewed – we are ready and waiting for that opportunity,” Michael said.

In 2015 we acquired the Haile Gold Mine and continued its development. We poured the first gold from the modern Haile Gold Mine in January 2017 and commercial production commenced in October that year. In September 2020, we announced the updated Haile Technical Report which demonstrates long-term value and significant organic growth opportunity for the operation, including the expansion of open pit mining and a new underground opportunity.

The Waihi region has a history of discovery, development and successful production. When we acquired the Waihi Operation in 2015, we committed to extending the life of the mine and we were pleased to deliver on that commitment with the commencement of the Martha underground mine development in 2019. In July 2020 we released the Waihi District Study, a Preliminary Economic Assessment that identified significant and exciting opportunities to expand the existing operation at Waihi and the potential for a new underground mine at Wharekirauponga to the north.

Built by great people

Over the last 30 days we have also celebrated the people who have contributed to our success along the way.

From our Chief Development Officer, Mark Cadzow, who joined us as a metallurgist at Macraes in 1990 and has grown with our company; to Oliver Donato, who started his career as one of our scholars in the Philippines and, in 2019, was awarded as the Outstanding Pollution Control Officer of the Pollution Control Association of the Philippines.

From Colin Purcell and Lorrance Torkler, who have both worked at our Waihi Operation for over 30 years and have a deep understanding of the mine’s operations and geology; to David Thomas, who has built a proud legacy and close community relationships at our Haile Gold Mine; and Ken Thomas who has contributed to our Macraes Operation for over 25 years after starting as one of the mine’s first operators.

These are just a few of the stories of the incredible people who work, and have worked, at OceanaGold and you’ll find many more stories on our people and careers blog.

 Looking ahead

We’re mining gold for a better future. While this year has had its challenges, we’re a resilient and dynamic gold miner, trusted to deliver enduring value through innovation, performance and sustainable growth.

Driven by our values, we continue to explore new opportunities at each of our operations, with a focus on sustainability and contributing to the communities we work and live in.

In New Zealand, we are delivering best practice mine rehabilitation at our Reefton Restoration Project. Following progressive rehabilitation of the site throughout the life of the mine, we are undertaking innovative planting, capping and water treatment projects and are also focused on supporting a sustainable future for the town of Reefton.

Further south at the Macraes Operation we’ve extended the mine life at the operation and see many additional opportunities ahead. Development of a new underground project, the Golden Point Underground, and extensions to Deepdell Open Pit and Frasers Open Pit – will extend the mine life at the operation to 2028.

When talking about the Macraes Operation, General Manager, Matthew Hine, said: “From an initial mine life of seven years, our desire to always keep improving has seen us become an operation, and company, that’s celebrated on the world stage. We know who we are, what we represent, how we want to treat each other and how we want to mine. With a commitment to always improve and a great leadership team, we have an exciting future ahead of us.”

In the North Island of New Zealand at the Waihi Operation, the Martha Underground is on track for first production in the second quarter of 2021. We’ve commenced consultation and engagement around the Project Quattro and Wharekirauponga opportunities and continue our exploration and resource conversion program.

When talking about the exciting opportunities ahead of us at the Waihi Operation, Acting General Manager, Daniel Calderwood said: “We’re in a very busy period of the mine’s life. The best is yet to come, here at Waihi, and for OceanaGold. The team here at Waihi are excited for the future and to see Waihi continue to prosper as we develop our projects here, and to the north at Wharekirauponga.”

Over the next two years we will employ an additional 200 people at the Haile Gold Mine in the United States as we continue to enhance the performance of this relatively young mine, expand our open pit operations and develop the Haile Underground Project in early to mid-2021.

When talking about what’s next at our Haile Gold Mine, Executive General Manager, Jim Whittaker said: “It never gets old, watching the sun rise over this mine. Every day it’s a reminder of the bright future and golden opportunity laying ahead, and below, for Haile Gold Mine. We’re building on a long legacy of gold mining in the south, and it’s an exciting time to be here.”

We’re proud to be celebrating 30 years of people and performance at OceanaGold and we look forward to the next 30 years. In 2021 we start a new chapter in the company’s life, as we deliver our exciting organic growth opportunities, under our responsible mining framework, and what it means to work the OceanaGold way.

Waihi Miners’ reflective area

The history of Waihi miners who tunnelled under enemy lines in France during WWI is recorded in a Miners’ Reflective Area in Waihi township.

Following the dedication in 2016 of a Tunnelling Company Memorial project, one of the largest events to occur in Waihi, the Miners’ Reflective Area was finally completed in 2019.

“This project is an example of how a community and a mining company can work constructively together to achieve something of lasting value,” OceanaGold’s senior communications advisor Kit Wilson says.

Miners’ Reflective Area takes shape

The community initiative started with a local heritage group approaching the Ministry of Culture and Heritage in 2013, and subsequently receiving $100,000 in funding to design and construct the Tunnelling Company Memorial, as part of the WWI centennial commemorations.

The Miners’ Reflective Area was designed as a multi-use public space of quiet reflection which would recognise miners past and present, and the contribution of these men, their families, and the industry to Waihi and New Zealand.

“Through the provision of practical in-kind assistance and support, and financial help, OceanaGold and the mine’s previous owners have put all of these values into action,” Wilson says.

“The object of this project was to bring their story back to life, to remind modern-day Waihi and New Zealand of these historical links, and to strengthen international Tunnelling Company links.”

The area chosen is part of Gilmour Reserve, a natural gathering place, which Wilson describes as “almost a village green”.

The land joins up Gilmour Lake to the Union Hill Walkway and beyond to the Pit Rim Walkway, all of which were Waihi Gold projects.

“This initiative would link these features as a valuable walking track and significant historical trail.”

Community support for Waihi operations

Encouraging the strong community support for OceanaGold’s Waihi operations is the company’s own strong support for the local community, with it taking the time to listen to the community’s aspirations and assist with community initiatives.

The collective energy put into creating the Miners’ Reflective Area has led to several additional co-operative projects, Wilson says.

They include the Waihi Lions Club/Waihi Heritage Vision Poppy Fence, the Waihi Heritage Vision Peace Wings Project, and the Waihi Heritage Vision Cross of Crosses.

“None of these initiatives would have been possible without close co-operation between mine staff and community members,” Wilson says.

Oral histories of miners’ descendants live on

Also inspiring the project is its contribution to the mining history of Waihi and the link between the local community and other countries sharing the New Zealand Tunnelling Company’s history – France, the UK, Australia, the Cook Islands and Norfolk Island.

OceanaGold Waihi provided financial assistance for a Heritage Group researcher and a videographer to record Tunnelling Company oral histories.

Wilson says “the oral histories were of particular importance as there was only a small number of Tunnellers’ children still alive.

“These descendants’ interviews were incorporated into the wider Waihi Gold Oral History Project, which ultimately saw over 60 local people interviewed on all aspects of early mining life in and around Waihi.”

Following the death of underground miner Tipiwai Stainton at Waihi, four new plaques were added to the Miners’ Reflective Area in honour and recognition of the four men who have died at the mine since 1952.

“The result is unique and is something that will continue to be a very special amenity for Waihi locals, visitors and mining families for many years to come,” Wilson says.

Mining and farming don’t seem like a likely pair – one relies on what’s on the land, and the other extracts from beneath it. But OceanaGold Waihi is proving the two can work in harmony.

The company own three blocks of farmland around their Waihi processing plant totalling 220ha, which is leased to and managed by three neighbouring farmers.

“We’re proud of the way we’ve managed to make the mine, farms and storage ponds function together, which we’ve been doing, and improving, since going underground in 2004,” says OceanaGold site project manager Kevin Storer. “With the help of our neighbouring farmers, we have beautiful land surrounding us.”

Cows and explosions

The farms’ daily operations are unaffected by what happens below, says Kevin. Being beneath a town of 4527 people, OceanaGold Waihi is used to mining in a way that creates minimal effects above ground.

This is achieved by carefully calculated placement of explosive charges, which detonate a microsecond apart and break the rock with minimal vibration on the surface.

Usually, the most impact felt above ground can be compared to a truck passing a house, so farming can continue as normal.

At the end of the 2017 season, OceanaGold signed an agreement with three neighbouring farmers, making them the managers of one OceanaGold block each – an extension to their own farms.

Prior to this, OceanaGold leased the land, and was responsible for the maintenance. “Our neighbours are great farmers. The land is always incredibly well kept,” says Kevin.

“Maintaining it ourselves worked okay but farming isn’t our profession, so we’re really happy with the decision.”

In total, the three farms graze 830 cows on OceanaGold’s blocks – mostly dairy, with 60 drystock.

About 48ha of OceanaGold’s south block is constructed from extracted rock from their open pit operation. The mounds are called Tailings Storage Facilities, or TSFs.

“The mine construction material isn’t harmful in any way, it’s just normal rock out of the ground. You can’t tell the difference between the land on south block and the adjoining farmland,” says Kevin.

Both TSF mounds have been rehabilitated with topsoil, sown with grass seed and converted into farmland, with a significant area dedicated to riparian planting. “Within three months of sowing everything’s green, and by the next season it’s being farmed.

“The South block is quite steep, so the farmer running it tends to only graze young heifers up there.”

Clean water

The mine has one operational TSF pond that stores tailings and excess water from the mining process, and rainfall. Water is sent from the pond to an onsite treatment plant, before being discharged into the Ohinemuri River.

The mine’s second TSF, named TSF2, was decommissioned in 2006. “The water in TSF2 is high enough quality to run directly into the waterways with no processing required.”

The active tailings pond is regularly tested. “Anomalies rarely happen, and if they do it’s usually just a matter of adjusting the PH levels – no different to what you’d do on a normal farm.

“People’s perception is that the pond is full of toxic material. There are trace elements of different minerals in there, but these are removed at the treatment plant.”

The water treatment plant’s polishing pond – the final stage before the water is discharged into the river – is clean enough to swim in. And people do. OceanaGold host a winter swimming event, called the Walrus Swim, every year. Fittingly, the winners receive a Walrus trophy. “It’s not just clean water for a mine – it’s considered clean by national standards,” says Kevin.

Bringing in the birds

The area around the two TSFs has attracted breeding pairs of endangered New Zealand Dotterels. It’s believed to be the only inland Dotterel breeding site in the North Island. “There are plenty of ducks and swans too, even on the active tailings pond. If you go there during duck season, it’s covered in them.”

As well as water testing, OceanaGold’s health, safety and environment team do regular sampling on all sites, and independent tests are carried out. All data is reported to Waikato Regional Council.

“We get annual soil test reports from the farmers and run our own extensive sample and testing regime,” says Kevin. “We manage trends through our database to ensure we’re not negatively affecting our surrounding environment.”

In the early days, OceanaGold worked with Massey University to complete yearly soil testing. “The university helped ensure the converted farmland was to standard, which created an opportunity for students to engage in the process.”

If OceanaGold’s proposed Project Quattro is approved, constructing another TSF will be permitted. Once mined, OceanaGold will stick to the same process, using leftover rock to construct farmland. “Leaving behind usable land, when the mining is over, is part of our duty of care.”

Multinational gold producer OceanaGold, with global operating, development and exploration experience, is serious about sustainability.

And company spokesman Kit Wilson says OceanaGold’s commitment to achieving sustainable outcomes does not end when their mining operations cease.

“For us the closure of a mine site is simply a transition to a new phase of operations, and a new Opportunity to achieve additional important sustainability targets.”

He says the former Globe Progress Mine at Reefton is a leading example of OceanaGold’s

Commitment to achieving sustainable outcomes after mining operations cease.

OceanaGold operated the Globe Progress Mine for about 10 years, and on average, moved approximately 23 million tonnes of material each year.

As a result of more than 610,000 ounces being extracted from the site, the depth of the main pit was 275m below the highest ground surface. However, in 2016, the mine transitioned from an operational phase to closure and rehabilitation and has since come to be known as the Reefton Restoration Project.

“The Reefton Restoration Project is largely focused on achieving environmentally sustainable outcomes. Central to the project is the re-establishment of vital ecosystems in the new post-mining landscape.”

In order to achieve this, OceanaGold has already undertaken a large-scale reforestation programme, covering 118ha. So far 700,000 seedlings have been planted, and a further 200,000 seedlings will be planted over the next 3 years.

The reforested areas predominately include species native to New Zealand, such as Beech and Manuka varieties, to provide homes for local wildlife species and enhance biodiversity outcomes.

In addition to planting, the progressive rehabilitation pf the former mine site also includes waste rock reshaping, backfilling operations, spreading of topsoil, and pest management, to ensure that the environment is visually integrated into the surrounding landscape.

Kit Wilson says the Reefton Restoration Project also includes  social sustainability targets to benefit the local community.

“A major target of the project was to support local community projects and since the rehabilitation phase began the company has provided $150,000 in funding for a local socio-economic development office, and $50,000 funding for local community projects.”

OceanaGold has also provided reinvigoration funding $50,000 to the local I-Site visitors centre to encourage tourism for the area.

The restoration project also aimed to offer employment opportunities for local community members, and several positions have been filled by local people, while the local and regional economy has also been bolstered through the procurement of goods and services.

Steph Hayton, the Environmental and Restoration Coordinator at OceanaGold, says working on the project has been a hugely rewarding experience.

“Working on a project like this has required an adaptive management style where research and trial work informs decisions on all aspects of closure,” says Steph.

“This includes restoration trials determining rehabilitation methods at the beginning of the operation, all the way through to the establishment of passive treatment trials for long term management of onsite water when the first went into closure.”

Steph says the approach has meant innovative techniques creating some great long-term solutions.

“While some aspects of closure have been easier than others the work towards closure has been extremely satisfying, with rehabilitated areas of the site now hosting many native bird species including the nationally vulnerable South Island Kaka.”

Babbage Consultants Limited, a New Zealand based multi-disciplinary consultancy, has been providing support to OceanaGold on the project.

Among several services provided to OceanaGold, Babbage has conducted ongoing water quality monitoring and guidance on wetlands for a lake side margin and also a treatment wetland to enhance downstream water quality While OceanaGold has already made many

Significant environmental and social gains in the rehabilitation phase, the Reefton Restoration Project is not due to be completed for a few more years.

However, the project is already showing signs that it represents a new gold standard for mine rehabilitation.

In the coming two years, the project team will continue their environmental work, and the reinstatement of adjacent historic tracks.

Upon completion, OceanaGold will hand back the land to the New Zealand Department of Conservation in accordance with its council consent.

Haile is the first gold mine in the United States to use Epiroc’s BenchREMOTE technology for remote control drilling with two of their three Epiroc drills. This technology provides many advantages for Haile’s workforce – no strangers to working in sometimes harsh South Carolina environmental conditions of extreme heat, wind, and rain.

The BenchREMOTE system enables operators to work from a safe distance in a comfortable environment, handling up to three rigs in parallel. This advanced technology allows the operator station to be placed up to 100 meters away and +/- 30 meters in elevation with a line of sight to communicate with the drills. Haile purchased two Epiroc D65 drills, BD7 and BD8, in 2019 that are compatible with this new technology.

The BenchREMOTE package includes the operator station only, so installation design is determined at the operator’s discretion allowing for a customizable end-product. Haile Drill and Blast General Supervisor, Aaron Kash, worked with ATC Trailers to design Haile’s housing, building the remote station into a fully insulated enclosed trailer.

“When we bought the equipment from Epiroc, I reached out to our local ATC trailer dealer and had them bring up the specs of a similar trailer,” Kash said.

“We made a few changes – making it a little longer, equipping it with a bigger A/C unit to withstand the heat, and upgraded the generator,” he said.

Safety is a primary concern any time people are present on a drill pattern with remotely operated drills. Communication, situational awareness, preparation, and warning systems are necessary for maintaining safe operation.

Perhaps the most significant benefit of the remote drills is the potential for increased productivity. Now one driller can operate up to three machines at a time, increasing utilization.

Another safety benefit is that the remote drill can access areas that may be unsuitable for people to access.

“With the development of the new Haile Pit, we are encountering historic workings. We may want to drill into an area with little cover to see what’s there, but we don’t want to risk putting somebody physically in the drill,” Kash explained.

The former Globe Progress Mine, located in New Zealand’s South Island, is a leading example of achieving sustainable outcomes.

By Reefton Restoration Project, OceanaGold, and Ashley Bartlett , Babbage Consultants

Multinational gold producer OceanaGold is serious about sustainability. However, unlike many other mining companies, OceanaGold’s commitment to achieving sustainable outcomes does not end when their mining operations cease. Rather, for OceanaGold, the closure of a mine site is simply a transition to a new phase of operations, and a new opportunity to achieve additional important sustainability targets.

The former Globe Progress Mine, located in New Zealand’s South Island, is a leading example of OceanaGold’s commitment to achieving sustainable outcomes after mining operations cease.

OceanaGold operated the Globe Progress Mine for about 10 years, and on average, moved approximately 23 million tonnes of material each year. As a result of more than 610,000 ounces of gold being extracted from the site, the depth of the main pit was 275 m below the highest ground surface. However, in 2016, the mine transitioned from an operational phase to closure and a rehabilitation phase and has since come to be known as the Reefton Restoration Project.

Environmentally Sustainable Outcomes

The Reefton Restoration Project is largely focused on achieving environmentally sustainable outcomes. Central to the project is the re-establishment of vital ecosystems in the new post-mining landscape.

In order to achieve this, OceanaGold has already undertaken a large-scale reforestation programme, covering 118 hectares. To date, approximately 700,000 seedlings have been planted, and a further 200,000 seedlings will be planted over the next three years.

The reforested areas predominately include species native to New Zealand, such as Beech and Manuka varieties, to provide homes for local wildlife species and enhance biodiversity outcomes.

In addition to planting, the progressive rehabilitation also includes waste rock reshaping, backfilling operations, spreading of topsoil, and pest management, to ensure that the environment is visually integrated into the surrounding landscape.

Furthermore, the Reefton Restoration Project includes impressive social sustainability targets to benefit the local community. A major target of the project was to support local community projects and since the rehabilitation phase began, OceanaGold has provided funding for a local socio-economic development officer (NZ$150,000), and further funding for local community projects (NZ$50,000). They have also provided reinvigoration funding (NZ$50,000) to the local I-SITE visitors centre to encourage tourism for the area.

The restoration project also aimed to offer employment opportunities for local community members, and several positions have been filled by local people, while the local and regional economy has also been bolstered through the procurement of goods and services.

Rewarding Experience

Steph Hayton, the Environmental and Restoration Coordinator at OceanaGold, said that working on the project has been a hugely rewarding experience.

She stated that working on a project like this has required an adaptive management style whereby research and trial work informs decisions on all aspects of closure. This includes restoration trials determining rehabilitation methods at the beginning of the operation, all the way through to the establishment of passive treatment trials for long-term management of onsite water when the first went into closure. This approach has meant innovative techniques creating some great long-term solutions.

While some aspects of closure have been easier than others the work towards closure has been extremely satisfying, with rehabilitated areas of the site now hosting many native bird species including the nationally vulnerable South Island Kaka.

Babbage Consultants Limited has been providing support to OceanaGold on the project.

Amongst several services provided to OceanaGold, Babbage has conducted ongoing water quality monitoring and guidance on wetlands for a lake side margin and also a treatment wetland to enhance downstream water quality outcomes.

Dr Grant Allen, a senior environmental scientist at Babbage, says that working together with the team at OceanaGold has been very rewarding. Reflecting on the project, Grant said that it is great to see companies, such as OceanaGold taking its responsibility for the environment seriously and then proceeding to go above and beyond to demonstrate that mine sites can be properly rehabilitated.

Looking ahead, he said that it would be fantastic to see more mine operators following in OceanaGold’s footsteps, taking up the challenge of rehabilitating their former mine sites to allow the environment to recover and prosper.

While OceanaGold has already made many significant environmental and social gains in the rehabilitation phase, the Reefton Restoration Project is not due to be completed for a few more years.

However, the project is already showing signs that it represents a new gold standard for mine rehabilitation. In the coming two years, the project team will continue their environmental work, and the reinstatement of adjacent historic tracks. Upon completion, OceanaGold will hand back the land to the New Zealand Department of Conservation in accordance with their council consent.

OceanaGold is expanding gold mining in New Zealand’s North Island following an exploration campaign, which has identified significant additional ore deposits in the area.

The Waihi District Study is a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) indicating strong value creating potential from several projects.  The base case scenario extends the mine life at Waihi to at least 2036, from multiple sources of ore feed, with a potential initial resource of 2.4 million ounces of contained gold.

The 12-month study looked at the Waihi District’s resource potential holistically. The study establishes the future production potential of the resources in the region, development requirements for each project, and the associated key milestones including mine production, processing and gold production.

The Waihi District in the North Island of New Zealand includes the town of Waihi and surrounding areas. The mining projects in the PEA include Martha Underground, Wharekirauponga (WKP) Underground, Martha Open Pit Cutback and Gladstone Open Pit.

Michael Holmes, President and CEO of OceanaGold said, “We are very pleased to share the positive results of the Waihi District Study that represents the initial value creating potential of the district opportunities.”

“The results of the study give us confidence to move forward with these opportunities. We see potential for further significant growth through resource additions particularly at Martha Underground and WKP deposits. Further resource expansion also has the potential for sustained high levels of annual gold production and mine life extension,” Mr Holmes added.

The modern Martha Mine and underground operations have been operating at Waihi for over 30 years. OceanaGold will enlarge the current Martha open pit, mine a second smaller pit on the outskirts of town near the company’s process plant, develop a new tailings storage facility, and construct a rock stack next to the existing tailings storage areas.

Economic benefits

The Waihi District Study shows significant socio-economic benefits for the regional community and for New Zealand, which can play a critical role in the post-COVID-19 economic recovery, including 300 new jobs in addition to the existing 900-person countrywide workforce.

“When OceanaGold purchased the Waihi Operation in 2015, the mine had a life of less than three years. We made a commitment then to extend the life of the mine and develop the economic benefits it brings to Waihi and the broader district. We are a high value export intensive industry that supports a wide range of businesses and jobs,” Mr Holmes said.

“With the potential to extend the mine life out to 2036, we would invest an estimated US$1.4 billion in the area. This is in addition to the significant benefits already delivered in New Zealand over the last 32 years of operation at Waihi.”

Mining in New Zealand

New Zealand has a long, rich history of mining dating back to the 1800s. Over the past 30 years, OceanaGold has successfully operated to the highest environmental and social standards and delivered significant socio-economic benefits to regional communities in both the North and South Islands.

Waihi, in particular, grew around the mining operations since the discovery of gold in the area over 150 years ago. Today, the town’s motto is “the heart of gold mining in New Zealand”.

The critical path for success is permitting and while the New Zealand permitting process is prescriptive, OceanaGold is very familiar with it.

“There are no short-cuts, permitting in New Zealand requires extensive engagement and transparency. We have successfully permitted dozens of projects in the country over the last 30 years, including most recently the Martha Underground Project which was permitted six months ahead of schedule in 2019. We have a strong reputation as a responsible miner and have solid relationships with the local community and other stakeholders,” Mr Holmes said.

Responsible mining

OceanaGold’s approach to sustainability is to build a positive legacy, delivering value throughout and beyond the life of its mines.

The land under which the Wharekirauponga (WKP) deposit sits is culturally and environmentally significant. It is also an important recreational area for walkers and campers and home to the critically endangered native Archey’s Frog.

That’s why any potential mining operation at Wharekirauponga would be underground and with minimal surface disturbance to protect the conservation values of the region.

“We believe we can mine the resource sensitively and respectfully using proven underground methods. Although we have tested enough rock to be confident that the gold discovered at the site could support a mine, we still need to undertake significant, detailed studies before we apply for resource consents,” Mr Holmes said.

This is not the first potential mine on conservation land for the company. OceanaGold successfully operated Reefton, an open pit mine in Department of Conservation land for nine years. Since ceasing operations the company has been conducting leading practice closure and rehabilitation at the site.

“We strongly support responsible mining, protecting conservation land and working with technical experts to understand and protect the biodiversity of the areas we operate in. We’re proud of our engagement and partnerships with local communities and the support we receive for our operations and future development,” Mr Holmes said.

Organic growth

OceanaGold has one of the best organic growth pipelines in the global gold sector, currently investing in a number of growth opportunities.

The majority of OceanaGold’s exploration activities are in New Zealand, particularly at Waihi where the resource has significantly increased since the asset was acquired in 2015.

“We have a high-quality management team and high-quality assets – which is a recipe for success, combined with one of the best organic growth pipelines in the gold sector. Over the next several years, we expect to build four underground mines in low-risk jurisdictions where we have extensive operating experience,” Mr Holmes said.

We closely examined our existing operations and exploration sites and developed a Preliminary Economic Assessment to examine additional opportunities to extend the life of the operation.

The study has allowed us to better-understand and optimise the overall development of our Waihi resources while balancing numerous, detailed considerations such as quality of the resources, capital expenditure, consenting (permitting) and stakeholder impacts.

One of the projects under the study is Project Quattro, which includes the Martha open pit extension, an additional tailings storage facility, new Gladstone open pit, a northern rock stack and infrastructure upgrades to support expanded operation. Watch this video to find out more about our proposed projects.

At the Didipio Mine in the Philippines, we undertook an innovative social data knowledge-building approach, with the aim of enhancing our social performance. The principle was to establish a process to better understand social changes induced by our operation in order to adequately address them whilst increasing opportunities for participatory processes. Our key focus was to incorporate the community perspective as an integral and core component of an adaptive management system.

As a first step, we engaged local social scientists to help us identify, categorise and analyse in a qualitative manner the social changes that have occurred and how they were perceived by local stakeholders in the study area. The study area included 14 Barangays (villages) around our sites, and 36 families with varying income levels and livelihood sources were involved. Data was collected in three ways:

1. Ethnographic case studies of the 36 selected families.
2. Focus groups aimed at constructing a local memory of social changes from the arrival of the mine and identify the perceived impacts associated with mining activity.
3. In depth interviews with smaller selection of community members from different social groups.

This data collection process was complimented with a remote sensing project, which enabled the collection of relevant geo-spatial data. The objective of this project was to characterise changes in mining footprints and the surrounding landscapes, including artisanal mining, main roads and forestry across Didipio mine’s lifecycle. It made use of freely available Landsat data dating back to before the mining operations began.

The next step is to validate the social change pathways through triangulation with qualitative data and spatial analysis using internal and external evidence. This will also highlight the possible attribution or influence (direct and indirect) of the mining project or operation. This requires measurable indicators to be defined previously for each of the elements that make up a pathway.  Secondary information from the household socioeconomic surveys and other sources can be used to set indicators.

Once the existence of the change pathways (trends) has been verified, a baseline can be developed to assess social change and the effects on the different types of families, especially on vulnerable families, as family type and impact area can be differentiated.  The analysis of the consequences of the change and its indicators will be carried out to identify what social changes and their effects have significantly affected the population including a hierarchy of effects by family type and impact area.

In the end, the aim is to develop strategies for future monitoring of social change. It is crucial for us to be able to monitor the most important changes that the population experiences and to illustrate the local narrative. This will include the development of a quantitative baseline and implementation of a monitoring system of changes and social impacts using the adaptive management approach to ensure an iterative process.

Overall, this social change assessment process is to propose and reflect on innovative approaches to enhance the social performance framework, by adopting an adaptive management system with feedback loops addressing the community perspective as an integral aspect, and promoting an integrated, multi-layered social science approach to inform and improve social performance.

ADaPT is a key feature of our strategy to prepare for operational change as our stakeholders expect us to produce more, waste less, and protect our people and environment. Digital transformation presents an industry-wide opportunity to enhance performance and reduce impact.

What is ADaPT?

We created ADaPT through a high-level collaborative planning workshop that included OceanaGold, Sandvik and MST Global.

The basic principle was to build internal capacity to generate better real time data and use that data to communicate across our workforce, mitigate risk and innovate. Better data enables reduced energy consumption and waste production, and more efficient processes result in producing gold with less rock removed, processed and stored, resulting in less coarse waste and tailings.

Implementation at the Didipio Mine

We strategically selected the underground Didipio Mine to become a flagship site for ADaPT:  an ideal site due to its early stage in the mining lifecycle and resilient workforce with an appetite for change.

The mine will be a model modern operation delivering greater safety, higher efficiencies and increased productivity. To drive this transformation, we are working in partnership with Sandvik for their expertise in mine automation systems, and MST for their experience in the data communications systems required to support productivity and safety processes in underground mines.

Project Manager James Allnutt is leading the transformation program and spoke to us about the process the Transformation Team has led since 2018.

“It started with a thorough review of the state of underground mining technologies, as the team planned to build on industry learning and take a ‘fast follower’ approach. We assessed that ADaPT would help the operation achieve a 10 per cent productivity gain by making the Didipio Mine more connected,” James said.

“In order to better plan for the transformation, we adopted the Idea Management Process, which involves defined steps to achieve sustained and incremental change: diagnostic, prioritise, sign on, implement, track and sustain, and sign off. Benefits from adopting this process of prioritisation were immediately seen – we noticed a clear reduction in frustrations and competition for operations resources. Our first output, a qualitative review of the value and barriers specific to each idea, was used to prioritise these ideas and put them into action.”

Idea management process at Didipio

Two of the projects that resulted from this process were prioritised in the ideas pipeline:

• Surface remote bogging, which aims to increase the stope production rate and enhance safety by removing personnel from hazardous areas. The team was able to track the progress by measuring daily additional tonnes bogged over shift change
• Digitised task management, aimed at increasing equipment utilisation and efficiency. The project initially focused on trucks and managed to reduce the idle time significantly. Digitised task management enabled mining supervisors to monitor task progress with real-time and accurate data.

A third project, viewed as an enabler sub-project, was identified as critical to the success of many projects: the backbone and wireless network.

“A fibre optic backbone and Wi-Fi-based network was installed at the Didipio  Mine providing a reliable, mobile and high bandwidth data communication system capable of withstanding the harsh underground environment. The open connectivity allows data-hungry applications, such as mine automation and fleet management systems to be supported by single network infrastructure. Personal safety beacons monitor mine employees’ locations in real-time, enabling rapid accounting for personnel in emergencies and smart management of refuge chamber capacities and fixed plant operations,” James said.

“The implementation of the Idea Management Process to sequence, prioritise and manage transformation ideas at the Didipio Mine improved the integration of the transformation project objectives with the operating teams. Learnings were invaluable. One of them was the importance of having a communication strategy to manage expectations, engage stakeholders and reduce the risk of ineffective implementation.”

“ADaPT has already changed the way we operate. Experience to date has shown existing jobs are becoming more interesting as repetitive work is removed and people are being empowered to enhance their roles. Our workforce welcomed the change and saw the benefits in their day-to-day jobs through technologies that connect them with each other and protect them from the typical hazards associated with the mining environment.”

There are many processes, machines, and tools in mining that can cause harmful noise exposures to employees. At Haile Gold Mine, during a routine personal industrial hygiene monitoring, Mary Koerner, Senior Health & Safety Coordinator and her team identified that exploration drills were exposing employees to excessive noise levels.

Mary joined the Haile Gold Mine team in 2019, after working in health and safety in the mining, natural gas and aerospace industries for 12 years. She says her passion working in this field was amplified after joining the company, which has the safety and wellbeing of its people as its number one priority. “Helping people has always been my driving force and my role at OceanaGold has really reinforced that personal ambition,” Mary says.

In a joint effort between exploration and health and safety teams, several engineering controls were tested on the drills to reduce noise levels. The goal was to limit levels to an acceptable rate whereby drillers would only be required to wear single hearing protection – or even better – no hearing protection at all.

Potential noise sources were identified including the muffler, the engine and the head rotation speed. The team, lead by Exploration Supervisor, Justin Adams (with Mary in the picture), resolved to place a one-inch insulation under the rotation guard for the drill steel, which would reduce noise impacts by enclosing the noise source and creating a barrier between it and the driller. This solution succeeded in reducing the sound pressure level by from 98.7 dBA to 93 dBA.

Mary says this innovative solution will have profound, positive impacts on the drillers’ quality of work life for years to come. Teamwork, and collaborative processes that fostered innovation, were the key to success.

“Careful collection and presentation of data is key. And, while my job can be challenging at times, improving the health, morale and productivity of our team is what drives me to do better, every day.”

Image: Mary Koerner, Health & Safety Superintendent for Haile Gold Mine, graduated with a BA in Environmental Science Biology from The University of Montana Western and an MS in Industrial Hygiene from Montana Tech.

In 2019, the Macraes Operation started a journey which aims to achieve a gender ratio representative of the community in which it operates. Women accounted for 14 per cent of the workforce, while they make up 53 per cent of the New Zealand South Island population. On average, female employees represent 17 per cent of the workforce across mining companies globally; in Australia this average rises to around 22 per cent.

In February 2019, the Macraes Operation established a Women in Mining committee to support gender diversity and inclusion; generate – and action – ways to support women in mining; and to grow the number of women working at the Macraes Operation to better represent the regional population. In that same year, the Macraes Operation set a target to achieve 20 per cent female representation in the workforce by 2023.

The initial focus of the committee was supported by the Macraes Balanced Business Plan – Lead a Caring and Diverse Workforce Environment. Initiatives were initially drawn from the inaugural Women in Mining event in 2018 where women who were identified as showing high leadership potential came together to discuss what support networks and development was needed on site to give each employee an equal opportunity to succeed. Throughout 2018, the Women in Mining committee then took the first steps towards achieving their goals by engaging with a number of external businesses, such as Diversity Works, who help address gender diversity within local organisations.

By the end of 2019, the operation saw a three per cent increase in the number of women on site. The Open Pit team continues to lead the way in achieving the long-term goal with females representing 20 per cent of their workforce at the end of 2019.

In December 2019, the Women in Mining committee hosted their annual event, and invited women from across the operation to take part in identifying areas of personal growth and the skills required to be mobile in their careers. The event also provided the opportunity for male counterparts in leadership positions to attend and continue to understand how they can support and develop their female colleagues reach their full potential as part of a diverse team.

As the Women in Mining committee continues to evolve, there is hope that new groups of men and women from across the business will consider joining in to champion this change and help find ways to make the Macraes Operation an even better place to work. In 2020, the Women in Mining initiative will form part of a wider Diversity and Inclusion focus and the site has yet again committed to achieving another 3 per cent increase in female employees by the end of the year.

Image: The launch of the ‘pink bucket’ as part of a breast cancer fundraiser in October 2019