Newmont first made a claim to the deposit in 1972; however, this is disputed by
Jean-Paul Turcaud to this date. A company town to support the mine was built by Newmont in 1976 and named after Telfer, former Western Australian Under Secretary for Mines. The town grew to a peak of almost 1,000 inhabitants in the early 1990s, with services such as a supermarket, a police station, a bank, a community hall, a library and a number of sporting facilities being available. The mine opened in 1977 as a joint venture between
BHP and Newmont. In 1990, a merger between BHP Gold and Newmont resulted in the formation of
Newcrest, with ownership of the Telfer mine lying with Newcrest. Telfer's demographic characteristics were typical of a northern Western Australian mining town in the time period. It had a male to female ratio of 2.4 to 1 and almost 40 percent of its population was born overseas. Half its population was below the age of 35 and the town experienced an annual population turnover of almost 20 percent. after discovering new mineral areas and a reserve base of some of gold and of copper. The mine reopened in November 2004, after commissioning of the processing plant and, initially as an open cut mine, from March 2006 also with an underground operation. In July 2018, a woman on her lunch break at the Telfer Mine was
attacked by a dingo. The injuries required surgery. On 4 December 2024, Greatland Gold acquired a 100% stake in the mine. ==Climate==