Greenwood Village-based Newmont Mining has completed construction on a new South American gold mine.
Newmont announced Monday that it had completed construction of the Merian gold mine in Suriname. Commercial production officially opened on Oct. 1, after “first gold was poured,” a spokesperson for Newmont said in a statement.
The mine contains contains an estimated 5.1 million ounces of gold reserves that Newmont anticipates will produce 400,000 to 500,000 ounces of gold per year in the first five years of production. After that, Newmont estimates the mine will produce 300,000 to 400,000 ounces per year until it runs dry — in about 13 years.
And this gold comes at the lowest prices in Newmont’s portfolio — about $650 to $750 per ounce. The going rate of gold today is approximately $1,312, according to Comex.
President and CEO Gary Goldberg said Newmont got ahead by investing in growth and infrastructure during a lower price cycle. The move effectively guaranteed Newmont more than a decade of continued productivity, as well as a foothold in a new, and potentially fruitful gold country.Together with Newmont’s four other self-funded growth projects, the company expects to produce one million ounces of lower-cost gold in the next two years.
Multimedia business & healthcare reporter Chloe Aiello can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/chlobo_ilo.
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