Newmont Mining Corp., the largest U.S. gold producer, will focus exploration near existing mines in Nevada to bolster its reserves, chief executive Richard O’Brien said.
“We’re trying to find out more about the assets we have in front of us, leverage that infrastructure we have there and use the team there to build the business,” O’Brien said Wednesday at the Denver Gold Forum. Newmont is exploring 18 deposits near existing mines, which could add 4 million to 7 million ounces of gold reserves, O’Brien said.
Newmont, based in Greenwood Village, is trying to boost reserves to benefit from historically high gold prices. In June, the company concluded its purchase of the remainder of the Boddington gold project, the largest in Australia, from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. The $2.9 billion mine will have an annual capacity of about 1 million ounces at a projected cost of $300 an ounce, Newmont has said.
Gold futures for December delivery settled up $13.90 to $1,020.20 Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. The precious metal reached a record $1,033.90 an ounce on March 21, 2008.
Gold sales from all of Newmont’s mines fell 5.7 percent to 1.2 million ounces in the second quarter, the company said in July. At that time, Newmont lowered the higher end of its 2009 gold sales forecast range to 5.4 million ounces from 5.5 million ounces. The company had gold sales of 5.2 million ounces in 2008.
Newmont rose 39 cents to $47.12 in New York Stock Exchange trading Wednesday.
