The Melbourne-based miner is pushing ahead with plans to produce $US200 million a year of contained metal at O'Callaghans, which is near its big Telfer goldmine in the Pilbara region.

O'Callaghans, which was discovered little more than a year ago, contains zinc, copper and lead as well as tungsten.

Newcrest told a recent tungsten industry conference in Vancouver it could mine about 4800 tonnes of tungsten concentrate a year from the mine for at least eight years from 2013.

It would also be able to produce about 25,000 tonnes of contained zinc, 7500 tonnes a year of contained copper and 11,000 tonnes of contained lead in concentrate each year.

The biggest operating tungsten mine in the world is currently the China Minmetals-controlled Xianglushan mine in Jiangxi province, which produces about 2650 tonnes of tungsten a year.

Tungsten's hardness and resistance to high temperatures makes it a sought-after raw material for drilling tools used in mining, oil production and construction, among other applications.

Most of the world's tungsten is controlled by China.

But production from O'Callaghans could account for 7 per cent of projected 2013 global output, if Newcrest's plans are realised.

Newcrest discovered O'Callaghans in the middle of last year and the miner has been trying to work out how best to profit from the deposit.

The option of selling the site, which was shelved during the global financial crisis, is back on the agenda.

Newcrest says it may mine the ore by itself, form a joint venture or sell the deposit outright.

Newcrest chief executive Ian Smith has said the company has received interest in the deposit from potential Chinese, Japanese and European buyers.