Stage Gate Process -
A Project Pipeline
Like many businesses, Newmont Waihi Gold's projects team uses a process known as Stage Gate to map out a work plan to take a project from conception to completion. The steps between conception to completion are a series of activities (stages) and decision points (gates).
Stages are where the action occurs. The team members undertake key activities to gather information needed to advance the project to the next gate. There could be several functions within each stage - technical, financial, consultative, operational - and activities for each function are carried out in parallel. Each stage costs more than the one before. As uncertainties decrease, expenditures are allowed to rise and risk is managed.
At any gate the project can be advanced, put on hold, recycled or discontinued.
A recent example of a project that was discontinued during the early stages in the pipeline was the proposal to lay back the western wall of the open pit.
At each gate the project is judged against a set of criteria and a decision is made to go forward or terminate. If the decision is to go forward a path is agreed upon and new dates and deliverables are set in place.
Gate 1: Advance viable business opportunities.
Gate 2: Determine if a business case exists.
Gate 3: Select a single option to achieve a business case.
Gate 4: Ensure single option is optimised, predictable and competitive.
Recent Visitors
James Redwood
The Coromandel electorate's Green Party candidate James Redwood visited site last week to get a first hand look at mining operations. He is pictured here with external affairs manager Kelvyn Eglinton, surveying the countryside from a vantage point above the tailings storage area.
Romanian Visitors
A delegation of fifteen Romanian visitors spent three days in Waihi last week to carry out an assessment of mining operations within a community. The group was made up of twelve men who sit on the Rosia Montana Council and three representatives from Gabriel Resources, a mining company working on the permitting process for the Rosia Montana gold mining project in the mountainous region of western Romania.
Rosia Montana has been a mining town for around 2000 years - from the time of Caesar to the communist rule of Ceaucescu. Previous mining operations have left a very poor environmental legacy in the impoverished region. Gabriel Resources has the means to clean up the damage and demonstrate modern responsible mining practices.
The Romanian delegation was particularly interested in water quality. They are pictured here at the polishing ponds adjacent to the water treatment plant.
