Newmont looks to the future

Article Excerpt

NEWMONT MINING $18.56 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 529.1 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.5%; www.newmont.com) has updated its long-term production goals and operating cost forecasts. The company expects its gold production to rise from 4.7 million to 5.1 million ounces in 2015 to between 5.2 million and 5.7 million ounces in 2017 as it opens new mines. It also recently acquired the Cripple Creek & Victor gold mine in Colorado for $820 million. Newmont’s annual output will likely fall to between 4.5 million and 5.0 million ounces from 2018 to 2020. However, the company could reverse that trend through acquisitions. In addition, Newmont expects its operating costs to fall from around $910 an ounce in 2015 to $900 in 2017 as these new mines begin regular operations. That will help the company cope with weaker gold prices, which have dropped from around $1,300 an ounce in January 2015 to $1,094 today. Newmont is…