Newmont Enhances Portfolio With Approval of Ahafo North Project
July 15 2021 - 7:30AM
Business Wire
The Best Unmined Gold Deposit in West
Africa
Today, Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT) announced that
its Board of Directors has approved advancing the Ahafo North
Project into the execution phase. The project exceeds the Company’s
required internal rate of return, adding profitable production from
the best unmined gold deposit in West Africa.
“I am pleased to announce the approval of full funding for the
Ahafo North Project, expanding our existing footprint in Ghana and
adding more than three million ounces of gold production over an
initial 13-year mine life,” said Newmont President and CEO, Tom
Palmer. “The development of this prolific ore body will leverage
our proven operating model and will be supported by our existing
world-class Ahafo South operation. The project will be developed
and operated in a sustainable and responsible manner to create
value for all our stakeholders.”
Located approximately 30 kilometers north of Newmont’s existing
Ahafo South operations, the Ahafo North Project will include four
open pit mines and the construction of a stand-alone mill.
Production from the mine will average approximately 275,000 to
325,000 gold ounces with all-in sustaining costs1 of $600 to $700
per ounce for the first five years. Projected capital costs are
estimated to be between $750 to $850 million with construction
expected to be complete in the second half of 2023. At current gold
prices, the project is expected to deliver more than a 30 percent
internal rate of return (IRR).
The project will create approximately 1,800 jobs at the peak of
construction with more than 550 permanent roles created once the
mine is operational. Newmont will work to create lasting value for
host communities through local sourcing and hiring. A key aspect of
the Ahafo North project’s workforce planning will be a target to
achieve gender parity in the workforce when operations begin.
Newmont has conducted extensive regulatory and community
engagements, including meeting with traditional leaders, local and
regional government agencies and holding public stakeholder
engagement meetings. Stakeholders have endorsed the Ahafo North’s
infrastructure plans and permits necessary to begin construction
have been secured. As the project proceeds, Newmont will continue
its robust stakeholder engagement to enhance social acceptance and
provide regular updates on the project.
[1] All-in sustaining costs as used in this press release is a
forward-looking non-GAAP metric, and is defined as the sum of costs
applicable to sales (including all direct and indirect costs
related to current gold production incurred to execute on the
current mine plan), reclamation costs (including operating
accretion and amortization of asset retirement costs), G&A,
exploration expense, advanced projects and R&D, treatment and
refining costs, other expense, net of one-time adjustments and
sustaining capital. Costs applicable to sales outlook for the
equivalent five years is expected to be $450 to $550 per ounce. A
reconciliation has not been provided in reliance on Item
10(e)(1)(i)(B) of Regulation S-K because such reconciliation is not
available without unreasonable efforts. For illustrative purposes,
a reconciliation of historical AISC and 2021 AISC gold outlook on a
consolidated basis can be found in the Company’s most recent
earning release available at www.newmont.com . See also the
Cautionary Statement for additional information regarding
forward-looking statements.
The full scope of funding will be deployed to high-impact
activities, including but not limited to:
- Finalizing engineering and EPCM services,
- Relocating of the national highway and support of additional
resettlement activities,
- Mining development for four open pits,
- Constructing and commissioning a 3.7 million tonne per annum
plant,
- Constructing a Tailings and Wastewater Management Storage
Facility and,
- Long-lead sourcing including the acquisition of 14 CAT 770 haul
trucks
About Newmont
Newmont is the world’s leading gold company and a producer of
copper, silver, zinc and lead. The Company’s world-class portfolio
of assets, prospects and talent is anchored in favorable mining
jurisdictions in North America, South America, Australia and
Africa. Newmont is the only gold producer listed in the S&P 500
Index and is widely recognized for its principled environmental,
social and governance practices. The Company is an industry leader
in value creation, supported by robust safety standards, superior
execution and technical expertise. Newmont was founded in 1921 and
has been publicly traded since 1925.
At Newmont, our purpose is to create value and improve lives
through sustainable and responsible mining. To learn more about
Newmont’s sustainability strategy and initiatives, visit our annual
Sustainability Report at www.newmont.com.
Cautionary Statement regarding outlook: This release
contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended
to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections and other
applicable laws. Such forward-looking statements may include,
without limitation: (i) estimates of future production; (ii)
estimates of future improvements to costs applicable to sales and
all-in sustaining costs; (iii) expectations regarding mine life;
(iv) expectations regarding internal rates of return; and (v) other
expectations of future operations and results in connection with
the Ahafo North Project. Where the Company expresses or implies an
expectation or belief as to future events or results, such
expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to
have a reasonable basis. However, estimates or expectations of
future events or results are based upon certain assumptions, which
may prove to be incorrect. Such assumptions include, but are not
limited to: (i) there being no significant change to current
geotechnical, metallurgical, hydrological and other physical
conditions; (ii) permitting, development, operations and expansion
of the Company’s operations and projects being consistent with
current expectations and mine plans; (iii) certain price
assumptions for gold, copper and oil; (iv) prices for key supplies
being approximately consistent with current expectations; (v) the
accuracy of our current mineral reserve and mineralized material
estimates; and (vi) other assumptions. Other risks relating to
forward-looking statements include, without limitation, community
relations risks, governmental regulation and political and judicial
outcomes. Additionally, uncertainties relating to the impacts of
Covid-19 or variations of Covid, include, without limitation,
changing governmental restrictions on travel and operations
(including, without limitation, the duration of restrictions,
including access to sites, impacts to supply chain, including
price, availability of goods, ability to receive supplies and fuel,
impacts to productivity and operations in connection with decisions
intended to protect the health and safety of the workforce, their
families and neighboring communities. For a more detailed
discussion of such risks and other factors, see the Company’s 2020
Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), and available at www.newmont.com , as well as the
Company’s other SEC filings. The Company does not undertake any
obligation to publicly release revisions to any “forward-looking
statement” to reflect events or circumstances after the date of
this news release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
Investors should not assume that any lack of update to a previously
issued “forward-looking statement” constitutes a reaffirmation of
that statement. Continued reliance on “forward-looking statements”
is at investors' own risk.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210715005219/en/
Media Contact Courtney Boone
303.837.5159 courtney.boone@newmont.com Investor Contact Eric Colby 303.837.5724
eric.colby@newmont.com
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