Newmont: Race to the Top
BY ELIZABETH FABRI ALL signs indicate Newmont Mining could dethrone Barrick Gold as the world’s largest gold producer this year. Newmont’s Australian division has been a key player in the race, kicking goals across its three operations – KCGM, Tanami, and Boddington. Back in 2007, Newmont’s vice-chairman at the time, Pierre Lassonde, told reporters at the Kalgoorlie Diggers and Dealers conference that he hoped Newmont would overtake Barrick Gold (its joint venture partner in KCGM) in the gold space. In 2016, Newmont president and chief executive Gary Goldberg told Bloomberg this wasn’t an area of focus; instead the value that is added to projects and growing margins. “We’re not about getting bigger, it’s about growing margins,” Mr Goldberg said. However,…