What is your vision as the new executive managing director of NGM?

There are four key pillars to my vision. The first is improving safety. November 2022 was our first injury-free month in our journey towards zero harm, a big milestone for us. The second is executing our plans. To emphasize this and improve integration between sites, an organizational change ensures that all site general managers now report to a new position for head of operations. Delivering on our capital plans, expansion, and improvement projects is key. Finally, the future. We need to add ounces to the backend. The first step is exploration; we have a solid 10-year plan, which we want to improve to a 15-year plan and beyond.

What are some of the key upcoming works ahead at the Carlin and Cortez mine sites?

Since the formation of the JV, we have produced over 10 million oz Au, along with increasing the reserves by 1.9 million oz and resources by almost 8.5 million oz. We have improved our knowledge and understanding of our ore bodies and geology. At Carlin, we continue to mine the open pits and underground. We are working on expansion plans underground, notably at our Gold Quarry roaster, with up to 20% expansion there that will be finalized in 2024. The Goldstrike autoclave is being rebuilt, and we are changing the process from Resign In Leach (RIL) to Carbon In Leach (CIL), which will be finalized in Q1 2023. At Cortez, the key is getting the final Record of Decision (ROD) approval at Goldrush. We hope to get it by Q2 2023. We will then build the required new infrastructure and begin production ramp-up at Goldrush.

Can you expand on operational and expansion developments at Turquoise Ridge?

We finalized the Third Shaft at Turquoise Ridge in 2022, which was an ongoing project since 2018. We plan on increasing the production from that shaft, we have changed the ventilation schemes and the infrastructure is now set. We are exploring drilling around the Mega-pit, in the areas between the legacy Newmont and Barrick sites, and around Turquoise Ridge to find extensions.

Which technological developments are you leveraging at these operations?

Mining is going towards remote control and automation undoubtedly. Our miners are operating on the surface and running underground equipment. We have been trialing battery-driven equipment underground at Turquoise Ridge and Goldrush. We are looking at upgrading our open pit equipment with diesel-electric, and with automation potential. We have remote drills at our open pits. Automation is beneficial for safety and productivity reasons. When the mine is evacuated for blasting, a crew is still operating equipment from the surface, which does not lead to downtime.

Can you expand on NGM’s ESG approach and recent community initiatives?

NGM has committed to a 20% carbon reduction by 2025, which will be achieved through the TS Solar facility and the modification of NGM’s TS Power Plant providing the ability to use cleaner-burning natural gas as a fuel source. Regarding community initiatives, in 2021 we provided a total community investment of US$2.6 million. We launched the I-80 fund during Covid-19 and invested US$5 million into giving loans to small businesses. Post-Covid, this fund is transitioning to support business growth and start-ups in Nevada.

In 2020, we convened advisory groups of local stakeholders and community leaders to identify how we could work together to ensure critical community needs were being met. These Community Development Committees (CDC) meet quarterly and cover Southern Nevada, Elko/Spring Creek/Carlin/Eureka, Battle Mountain/Winnemucca, Wells/Wendover, and Native American communities. Over US$5 million has been contributed to Nevada through the work of these CDCs. One of the first initiatives from the CDCs was to help the childcare shortage in our communities. We committed US$3 million to the Boys & Girls club daycare facilities, now named Nevada Gold Mines Early Learning Centers. NGM is also committed to improving community broadband in the Elko area, where we have partnered through a US$30 million investment with Anthem Broadband for them to build the infrastructure.

Finally, we are committed to investing in our youth. We have partnerships with Great Basin College, the College of Southern Nevada, the University of Reno, and the University of Las Vegas and are investing even further down the line to help create the next generation of miners.