Newmont Mining Corporation NYSE: NEM, based in Denver, Colorado, USA, is the world's largest producer of gold, with active mines in Canada, Bolivia, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Turkey, Peru and Uzbekistan.

Holdings include Battle Mountain Gold, Normandy Mining, and Franco-Nevada Corp. Newmont is in a joint venture project with Southwestern Resources Corporation for exploration and extraction of many precious metals. Subsidiary operations include Yunnan Porphyry Copper and Gold Project in China, and the Liam Gold-Silver Project in Peru. Newmont produces about 7.5 million troy ounces (233,000 kg) of gold annually and holds reserves of about 90 million troy ounces (2,800,000 kg) of gold. Production in the Americas accounts for about 70% of the company's production, but even so Newmont is the lead gold mining operation in Australia. The Company is advancing two exploration projects in Ghana, which combined represented 16.0 million ounces of reserves at year-end 2004 and is expected to become the next core operating district. Newmont employs approximately 14,000 people worldwide and Newmont says it is committed to the highest standards for environmental management, health and safety for its employees and neighboring communities. Other metals that the company mines include copper, silver, and zinc.

History

Early years

Newmont Mining Corporation was founded in 1921 in New York by Colonel William Boyce Thompson as a holding company to invest in worldwide mineral, oil, and relations companies. The name Newmont was chosen by Thompson as a contraction of New York, and Montana, because, as one biographer put it, "he grew up in the latter and made his money in the former."

In 1929, Newmont became a mining company with its first gold production by acquiring California's Empire Star Mine. By 1939, Newmont was operating 12 gold mines in North America. The following year, O'okiep Copper Company came into full production in South Africa. O'okiep formed the base for Newmont to eventually become the world's third largest copper producer, with interests in eight copper operations worldwide.

Beginning in 1925 Newmont acquired interests in a Texas oil field. Eventually, Newmont's oil interests included more than 70 blocks in the Louisiana Gulf area and oil and gas production in the North Sea.

Gold at Carlin

Newmont discovered disseminated gold at Carlin, Nevada in 1962 and began operating its first mill there in 1965 under the name Carlin Gold Mining Company. The "Carlin Trend" is the largest gold discovery in North America in this century. In 1971, Newmont began using the heap leaching technology on sub-mill grade ores at Carlin. It was one of the first in the gold industry to use heap leaching. In 1986, the company's name was changed to Newmont Gold Company, and five million shares were sold publicly for US$47.5 million. Newmont Mining held a 90 percent interest.

In 1977, Newmont was instrumental in organizing the consortium that purchased Peabody Holding Company, Inc., the largest coal producer in the nation. Newmont held a 50 percent interest in Peabody following the purchase.

A decade later, Newmont's assets were over US$1.9 billion and income from continuing operations reached US$338 million. In August 1987, Newmont became the target of an unsolicited tender offer for control and dismemberment of the company.

Major restructuring

As a result, the company undertook a major restructuring. This included the payment of a US$33 per share dividend to all shareholders for a total of US$2.2 billion, of which US$1.75 billion was borrowed. To reduce this debt the company undertook a divestment program involving all of its copper, oil, gas, and coal interests.

As a further step in the restructuring, the company moved its headquarters from New York City to Denver in February 1989. On January 1, 1994, Newmont Mining Corporation and Newmont Gold Company, combined assets to form a unified worldwide gold company. Shareholders of both companies had identical interests in the reserves, production, and earnings of Newmont Gold's operations.

Newmont merged with Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation to form North America's largest gold producer. And, in October of 1998, Newmont Mining and Newmont Gold merged, with Newmont Mining acquiring the remaining shares of Newmont Gold that were outstanding at that time. On June 21, 2000, Newmont announced a merger with Battle Mountain Gold Company. The merger was completed in January 2001.

In February 2002, Newmont completed the acquisition of Normandy Mining Limited and Franco-Nevada Mining Corporation Limited, making it the world's largest gold producer.

In December 2004, government officials in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, anticipate the closure of Newmont Canada's Golden Giant mine in about one year.