The company has not specified the number of jobs it intends to cut. — Reuters
LONDON: Newmont Corp, the world’s largest gold miner, is studying plans to drive down costs that could lead to deep job cuts, following its US$15bil acquisition of Newcrest Mining Ltd in 2023.
The company’s costs jumped after the purchase took its portfolio of mines to about 20 and it expanded into copper mining.
Newmont’s all-in sustaining costs per ounce hit an all-time high earlier in 2025, eroding the earnings generated by record bullion prices.
Newmont, which hired Boston Consulting Group to work on the plans, has told managers it wants to be closer in line with its lowest-cost peers, according to people familiar with the matter.
That would mean lowering costs by as much as US$300 per ounce, or around 20%, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plans haven’t been made public.
While it has not specified the number of jobs it intends to cut, that target could require Newmont to reduce its headcount by thousands, some of the people said.
At the end of December, the company employed about 22,000 people, a figure that doesn’t include contractors.
Newmont has already started informing some staff about redundancies, the people said. Over the past few weeks, calls were held between executives and division managers on job cuts and other cost-cutting plants, including potentially curbing long-term incentives.
The company is still finalising the cost-reduction plan and there is no certainty on how it will be implemented, some of the people said.
A spokesperson for Newmont said the company announced a cost and productivity improvement programme in February.
Moves to reshape its structure are one of several steps the firm is taking this year to reduce its cost base, the person said, adding that the company isn’t working to a cost-per-ounce target in its review.
Gold hit an all time high of about US$3,500 an ounce in April and has mostly traded above US$3,300 since then. That’s seen gold equities rally, with Newmont surging 95% this year. — Bloomberg
