NEWMONT is to sell non-core assets of up to $2bn following its takeover of Newcrest Mining, said Bloomberg News citing the US gold producer’s CEO, Tom Palmer.
The takeover, the gold industry’s largest, was completed on Monday after roughly 12 months of negotiations and the process of meeting regulatory conditions.
Miners typically shed assets following mergers and acquisitions to bring in cash and keep their portfolios manageable, said Bloomberg News. After Newmont’s takeover of Goldcorp in 2019 — a deal that propelled Newmont to the gold sector’s top spot — the company sold one mine as well as two stakes in other projects within the first year, it said.
With the takeover of Newcrest, Newmont will operate 20 mines in 11 countries. The move boosts the company’s gold output to an estimated 8.5 million ounces a year while significantly increasing its exposure to copper.
Said Palmer of the $2bn the company hoped to raise: “It will come from a combination of divestments of assets and resequencing of projects so that we ensure we’ve got the appropriate and steady allocation of cash for reinvestment”.
“We’ll look at the portfolio we have and take our time to integrate it safely, and welcome new colleagues into our business. And then we’ll think carefully about how we might rationalize our portfolio over the next 12 to 24 months to meet that $2bn commitment,” said Palmer.
The assets identified for sale had not been decided, but analysts suggested two Australian mines acquired from Newcrest — Telfer and Havieron — were among several operations Newmont will put up for sale. The Wafi-Golpu project in Papua New Guinea, which Newmont now shares with South African firm Harmony Gold, might be retained however.
Palmer told Bloomberg TV that his company would seek to expand copper production over the long-term, after gaining mines producing the metal along with the Newcrest takeover.
