- Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM -7.2%) says it has completed construction of the Merian gold mine in Suriname on time and more than $150M, or nearly 20%, below its initial development capital budget.
- NEM declared commercial production on Oct. 1, having achieved sustained average mill throughput of 80% and gold recovery of more than 90% over the past 30 days.
- NEM says Merian contains gold reserves of 5.1M oz. and expects annual gold production to average 400K-500K oz. at all-in sustaining costs among the lowest in its portfolio, averaging $650-$750/oz. in the first five years.
- NEM shares are sharply lower along with other gold stocks as bullion slides to below $1,300/oz., its lowest level in three months.