Newmont Mining Corporation – the world’s second largest bullion producer in 2017, has announced plans to trial blockchain technology this year, as a way to confirm ethical and sustainable gold production.
Newmont Mining Corporation announced plans to grow gold production and cut costs, while reporting market-beating profits and output forecasts that position it to take the title of world’s largest bullion producer in 2018.
Newmont’s 2017 production was slightly behind that of industry leader Barrick Gold. Roughly 50,000 ounces — or about 125 gold bars — is all that stood in the way of Newmont Mining claiming the coveted industry leader spot last year.
However, the Colorado-based mining company is en route to achieving hegemony in the gold mining sector and becoming the world’s largest bullion producer this year. The company is already halfway there, after boosting its 2018 capital budget by $300 million, to $1.2-$1.3 billion, and approving a power project at an Australian mine and expansion of a joint venture mine in Nevada.
Newmont’s Chief Executive Gary Goldberg said the company wants to trial blockchain technology this year, as a way to confirm ethical and sustainable gold production.
“We definitely want to be involved in it, we think it’s a good thing for the gold industry overall,” Goldberg said.
According to Goldberg, other miners may launch trials before year-end, looking at blockchain as a means to track minerals and add security and transparency in trade and other financial transactions.
Newmont is trying to attract a broader investor base by sweetening its dividend and focusing on shareholder returns, Goldberg added.
“We need to make ourselves more attractive, which I think we’ve done by upping our dividend yield,” Goldberg told Reuters.
Newmont, which operates mines in the United States, Australia, Peru, Suriname, and Ghana, forecasts annual gold production of 4.9-5.4 million ounces in the next two years. The 97-year-old company also mines silver, copper, lead, zinc, and other metals. At the end of 2017, the company had gold reserves of 68.5 million ounces.