Newmont Mining Corp. plans to sell Newmont Waihi Gold Ltd. to OceanaGold Corp. for $101 million in cash, a $5 million contingent payment, and a 1% net smelter royalty on a recent discovery north of Waihi’s current operations.
“Our agreement with OceanaGold for the sale of Waihi represents another step in Newmont’s strategy to further strengthen our balance sheet by selling select assets for cash at fair value,” said Randy Engel, Newmont’s executive vice president for strategic development. “Waihi is a good strategic fit within OceanaGold’s existing portfolio in New Zealand, and their strong safety and sustainability standards position them well to further develop Waihi in the future.”
Both parties have agreed to complete due diligence, and target execution of a definitive acquisition agreement in mid-May.
Waihi is located approximately 150 km southeast of Auckland. Gold was first discovered and mined in the area in 1878. The Martha open-pit mine began operations in 1987 and was acquired by Newmont in 2002 during its merger with Normandy. Waihi produced approximately 132,000 oz of gold in 2014.
