Newcrest taps into molybdenum at Cadia

The company will extract molybdenum from its copper concentrate stream to produce a 50 per cent molybdenum concentrate in dry powder form.

The project will cost an estimated $130 million to complete and is anticipated to produce 4.1 million pounds of molybdenum a year.

This would see 140 people employed at the site during construction and create 15 full time roles when operational in June next year.

The flotation plant, affectionately dubbed by Newcrest as the “Moly Plant”, will provide the company with a level of control and automation to optimise recoveries and concentrate grades.

Made of a series of flotation cells, thickeners, a grinding mill, dryer, scrubber and bagging plant, the Moly Plant has been designed using the latest 3D modelling software.

This is expected to give Newcrest insights throughout the design process and will offer substantial benefits during construction and commissioning.

Newcrest started constructing the molybdenum processing plant – an Australia-first – this February.

Once completed, the plant will generate an additional revenue stream of $45 million for the company a year.

Moly project manager Malcolm McPhan said Newcrest would make use of the existing pipeline from Cadia to the township of Blayney to extract the molybdenum for processing.

“We divert the copper concentrate from the pipeline on its way to Blayney to the Moly Plant where we extract the molybdenum via a flotation process,” McPhan explained.

“Then we pump it back into that pipeline and send it on its merry way to Blayney.”