Exploring the feasibility of an economy-boosting copper mine

Namosi Joint Venture was established to investigate building a copper mine west of Fiji’s capital. The venture’s lead party, Newcrest Mining Limited, engaged Beca to evaluate infrastructure options as part of a prefeasibility study (PFS).

Newcrest Mining Limited were a founding party of the Namosi Joint Venture (NJV), established between three resources companies to explore the feasibility of a large-scale copper mine at Namosi, 30km west of Suva in Fiji.

If approved and constructed, the Namosi mine will feature an open pit, with production capacity of 60 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It will also provide 17mtpa ROM (runs of mine) ore feed for processing and 300,000 tonnes per annum of copper concentrate. Other benefits that will flow from this project include an estimated 736 new full time positions created every year.

Beca were commissioned by Newcrest to support the PFS for this project, while also investigating infrastructure options for the identified mine site. This included looking at options for copper concentrate storage, standalone shipping facilities on the nearby coast and road designs to link the project with existing transport networks.

Following completion of the studies, NJV was granted a ‘special prospecting licence’ by the Fijian Government, which is the next step before seeking construction approval.