Newmont faces new political costs & risk

Article Excerpt

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $25 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 493.1 million; Market cap: $12.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) owns 48.5% of the Batu Hijau copper/gold mine in Indonesia, which supplies 7% of its revenue. The Indonesian government wants miners to process more ore in the country, so it recently announced a ban on mineral exports. Batu Hijau can still export its ore until 2016, but it will face a new export tax in the meantime. Newmont will challenge these changes, because its contract exempts it from extra taxes and fees. Newmont is still a hold. hold…