Newmont Corp. posted its highest quarterly costs in at least nine years, in part because of its operations at one of Australia’s largest gold mines.
The world’s top gold producer said the all-in sustaining cost of producing the precious metal hit US$1,651 an ounce in the first quarter. That’s about 13% more than the prior quarter and is the highest in records going to back to 2016.
Overall, the company benefited from gold’s surge to record prices in the quarter. The Colorado-based producer posted adjusted earnings per share that beat the average analyst estimate. Shares of the company rose in after-market trading.
Newmont is spending about $300 million annually over the next two to three years due to a tailings expansion at the Cadia mine, which it acquired during its takeover of Newcrest Mining Ltd. in 2023, according to Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer. The spending, which the company signalled in its full-year report for 2024, is associated with “remediation and construction of tailings capacity,” he said in a Wednesday interview.
Waste and pollution issues have played a central role in Cadia’s operations in the past, with Newcrest once being fined about $10,000 for failing to properly mitigate dust pollution.
Newmont’s costs, while high, were lower than analysts had expected for the quarter.
Jacob Lorinc, Bloomberg News
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