Mponeng is a deep-level gold mine near the town of Carletonville, some 90km south-west of Johannesburg. The mine started producing in 1986. Harmony acquired the mine from AngloGold Ashanti in October 2020.
The primary orebody mined is the VCR, which is mined mostly by breast-mining methods, extracting both reef and waste. The dilution from the waste is captured and incorporated in the tonnage calculation, with historical performance being the benchmark. The economic reef horizons are mined between 3 160m and 3 740m below surface. On surface the ore is processed at the Mponeng gold plant. The plant uses the conventional gold leach method, with gold recovered through carbon-in-pulp technology.
OPERATING PERFORMANCE FY21
Mponeng has already added to the quality of Harmony’s asset portfolio and increased margins. Since its acquisition in October 2020, it has established itself as the third-largest contributor to gold production and the second-largest contributor to operating free cash flows. In FY21, Mponeng processed 683 000 tonnes, producing 5 446kg (175 092oz) of gold at 7.97g/t.
Gold revenues totalled R4 750 million. The operation incurred cash operating costs of R2 902 million and capital expenditure of R493 million, mainly due to integration costs and ongoing development for plant optimisation.