Under the contract, which came into effect January 1, Santos will supply gas over three years to Newmont’s existing operations at the Jundee gold mine and the Parkeston power station in central Western Australia.
The gas will be supplied from the Apache Energy-operated offshore John Brookes gas field, processed at the East Spar gas processing facilities on Varanus Island, and then transported to the mine and power plant via the Goldfields Gas Transmission Pipeline.
Newmont put its gas supply out to tender after a 10-year contract with the Harriet Joint Venture partners - operator Apache Energy, Tap Oil and Kupfec - offshore gas project ran out.
Tap revealed last month that the joint venture was struggling to replace reserves at the ageing project.
The Harriet partners were forced to declare force majeure on a major contract with Burrup Fertilisers.
The Newmont contract was awarded as part of a competitive tender and builds on previous WA contracts won by Santos for the John Brookes gas field, including Newcrest’s Telfer gold mine, the new Wesfarmers liquefied natural gas plant at Kwinana and the various power generation requirements of Energy Developments in the West Kimberley region.
“It is a significant contract that has met the customer’s requirements and commenced deliveries in a relatively tight timeframe, allowing Newmont to continue its operations uninterrupted,” Santos managing director John Ellice-Flint said.
