Newmont Confident In Meeting Full Year Guidance And Deliver On Commitments
DENVER, CO - “Newmont Corporation President and CEO, Tom Palmer said, “We continued to advance our divestiture program and, to date, have announced $527 million in proceeds this year. With this momentum, we completed $250 million in share repurchases and repaid $250 million in debt. As we head into the second half of the year, we remain confident in our ability to meet our full year guidance and deliver on our commitments."
Newmont has produced 1.6 million attributable gold ounces and 477 thousand gold equivalent ounces (GEOs) from copper, silver, lead and zinc, including 38 thousand tonnes of copper; primarily driven by production of 1.3 million gold ounces from Newmont's Tier 1 Portfolio. In addition, the Company generated $1.4 billion of cash from operating activities.
Full year production for 2024 is expected to be second-half weighted as previously indicated, with a sequential increase weighted towards the fourth quarter. The second-half weighting is expected to be driven primarily by improved grades at Peñasquito, Ahafo and Tanami, improved throughput from Lihir and Boddington and sequential improvements delivered from our non-managed joint venture operations.
The Company has entered into an agreement to sell 100 percent of the entity holding Newmont's deferred payment rights associated with the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in Indonesia for total consideration of $153 million in cash, with closing to occur no later than September 30, 2024. Furthermore, an additional $10 million cash payment associated with these deferred payment rights was received in July. During the second quarter of 2024, Newmont also received a $34 million cash payment, bringing total proceeds to $197 million for 2024.
The attributable gold production decreased 4 percent to 1,607 thousand ounces from the prior quarter primarily due to lower production at Cerro Negro as a result of the suspension of operations during the quarter following the tragic fatalities of two members of the Newmont workforce on April 9, 2024. Operations at Cerro Negro safely resumed on May 24, 2024. In addition, operations were suspended as of April 14, 2024 at Telfer, one of Newmont's non-core assets, as further work is completed to remediate the safe operation of the tailings storage facility. Second quarter production was also impacted by lower production at Lihir due to heavy rainfall impacting mine sequencing, as well as lower production at Akyem due to lower grades as a result of the ongoing stripping campaign. These impacts were partially offset by higher production at Porcupine, Brucejack and Peñasquito.
Nevada Gold Mines (NGM) attributable gold production decreased 4 percent to 253 thousand ounces. Pueblo Viejo (PV) attributable gold production decreased 2 percent to 53 thousand ounces compared to the prior quarter. Fruta del Norte attributable gold production is reported on a quarter lag. Production reported in the second quarter of 2024 increased 67 percent to 35 thousand ounces compared to the prior quarter.
Newmont is the world’s leading gold company and a producer of copper, zinc, lead, and silver. The company’s world-class portfolio of assets, prospects and talent is anchored in favorable mining jurisdictions in Africa, Australia, Latin America & Caribbean, North America, and Papua New Guinea. 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. Newmont is an industry leader in value creation, supported by robust safety standards, superior execution, and technical expertise. Founded in 1921, the company has been publicly traded since 1925.