Newmont’s ’tier 1’ definition is a lot broader than just 500kOz a year, it also has a maximum defined AISC which Telfer cannot meet largely due to head grades.
As for the 240kOz in 2023/24 year, well both mills shut down on Christmas Eve and were down for 6 or 7 weeks, they have only just restarted ONE train a couple of weeks ago, which will probably go until some time in May, as there is a maximum amount of material able to be deposited into the quadrant of the TSF they are able to use, then it will be both trains off for the rest of the financial year. So train two is down for more than half the year, and train one will be down for a quarter of it, so as a benchmark 240 shouldn’t be too hard to improve on, that’s why it should rise in future years, in my humble opinion.
Within the confines of Telfer’s area also exists the world’s largest high grade known deposit of tungsten, a mineral required for production of armour piercing weaponry and currently 80% odd is mined and processed by China. It’s not too far fetched to expect the western world to be securing more geopolitically friendly supplies of a rare material required for military purposes and this hasn’t yet been touched. Another piece of the future puzzle?