NEWCREST has acquired its initial stake in a joint project with South Africa's Harmony Gold Mining in Papua New Guinea.
The $557m joint venture covers the Hidden Valley gold and silver project and the Wafi-Golpu gold and copper deposit. It also includes more than 3,400 square kilometres of exploration tenements.
The deal is set to begin in mid-2009, producing more than 250,000 ounces of gold and 3.6 million ounces of silver each year.
Newcrest says the deal will establish a significant footprint in ‘a developing jurisdiction’.
Previous efforts by Newcrest to push into the region prompted complexities such as landowner concerns and competing interests between authorities.
However, the Australian mineral company says there is potential to develop the area into a major new mining province.
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