Newmont CEO Tom Palmer
Gold major Newmont on Thursday announced record full-year and fourth-quarter results, with free cash flow surging 153% to $3.6-billion, buoyed by the impressive performance of gold in 2020.
Adjusted full-year net income soared from $970-million to $2.14-billion, or $2.66 a share, while fourth-quarter adjusted earnings doubled to $856-million, or $1.06 a share.
Newmont said the average realised price for gold increased by $376/oz to $1 775/oz for the full year and by $374/oz to $1 852/oz for the quarter.
“These results enable Newmont to lead the industry in shareholder returns, invest in organic growth and maintain financial flexibility,” president and CEO Tom Palmer said.
Newmont produced 5.9-million attributable ounces of gold and more than one-million attributable gold-equivalent ounces of co-products, at a gold all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1 045/oz – achieving its 2020 full-year guidance. Production was lower than the 5.91-milion gold ounces produced in 2019, and costs were higher than the AISC of $966/oz.
The lower output was mainly attributed to the idling of Yanacocha and Cerro Negro in response to the Covid pandemic, lower ore grade mined at Ahafo and the sale of Red Lake and Kalgoorlie.
The gold major ended the year with more than $5.5-billion of consolidated cash.