Rio Tinto discovers new gold in Western Australia

The Winu project is located 130km north of Newcrest’s Telfer mine. Rio Tinto announced in February this year that the company was ramping up development at Winu, with the first production expected in 2023.

Of the new gold discovery, Rio Tinto’s group executive for growth & innovation and HSE, Stephen McIntosh, said: “We’re taking a more agile and innovative approach at Winu, and are working on the studies for a small-scale, start-up operation focused on Winu’s higher-grade core as we take another step towards commercialising this deposit.

“The additional exploration results reported today support our view that there is potential to develop the Paterson region into a large-scale operation over time through both our 100% owned tenements and joint ventures.”

The company’s chief executive for copper and diamonds, Arnaud Soirat, added: “We are very pleased with the progress at Winu as it adds a further option to our strong copper portfolio in a country that is home to many of Rio Tinto’s world class operations.”