Image: Newmont
Newmont expects to produce over 1.3 million ounces of gold from its Australian operations this year, with the Boddington gold mine in Western Australia as the top contributor.
The company is targeting production of 830,000 ounces at Boddington, with the remaining 500,000 ounces to be delivered at the Tanami gold operation in the Northern Territory.
Newmont approved the Tanami expansion two project last year to boost production to 3.5 million tonnes a year.
The increase will be staged by around 150,000-200,000 ounces a year over the first five years from 2024.
Aside from this improvement, Newmont has continued to progress autonomous haulage system at Boddington.
This led to a 10 per cent increase in Newmont’s all-in-sustaining cost for the fourth quarter of 2020 to $US1043 ($1323.5) an ounce from the prior year.
Newmont’s group attributable production also slid by 11 per cent during the quarter to 1.63 million ounces following the sale of its interest in the Super Pit in Western Australia and the Red Lake mine in Canada.
This didn’t prevent the company from generating a record $US4.9 billion of cash from its operations last year while delivering nearly six million attributable ounces.
“In 2020, Newmont achieved record performance including $US3.6 billion of free cash flow and ending the year with over $US5.5 billion of consolidated cash. These results enable Newmont to lead the industry in shareholder returns, invest in organic growth and maintain financial flexibility,” Newmont president and chief executive Tom Palmer said.