Newmont starts building big new mine

Article Excerpt

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $24 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 498.8 million; Market cap: $11.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 0.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) has started work on its 75%-owned Merian gold project in Suriname; the Suriname government owns the remaining 25%. The company will spend $600 million to $700 million on Merian. The new mine will supply 7% to 10% of Newmont’s total gold production when it starts up in 2017. The stock has jumped 36% from its December 2014 low of $17.60. That’s mainly because gold prices have strengthened in response to fears of deflation in Europe. However, the higher U.S. dollar will continue to weigh on gold. Newmont is a hold. hold. …