NEWMONT let go of nearly a dozen managers, including a member of its executive team, as part of a sweeping corporate overhaul, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The world’s top gold mining company initiated plans to dismiss one executive and at least 10 senior managers, the sources said, asking not to be named discussing internal matters.
Newmont also told employees it plans to merge several business units in an effort to streamline the reporting structure. Five units will be consolidated into three, ridding the miner of standalone divisions that oversee operations in Australia and Africa, and combining them with units that oversee North America and East Asia.
The shakeup follows a disappointing earnings report in late October that revealed the gold producer is struggling to control costs and capitalise on surging bullion prices. Newmont is spending more than expected to dig gold from mines in Australia, Canada, Peru and Papua New Guinea. chief executive officer Tom Palmer faced criticism from top investors in private conversations with the company following the October earnings report, said one of the sources.
The restructuring is also in response to the company’s US$15 billion takeover of Newcrest Mining in 2023, which saw the firm acquire several major gold and copper mines while shedding smaller ones in Australia, Canada and Ghana.
“Following the Newcrest acquisition and progress with our key divestments, we are continuing to execute our strategy focused on a portfolio of Tier 1 assets and projects,” a Newmont spokesperson wrote in an e-mail. “An integral part of this strategy is to ensure that we have an organisation that is fit-for-purpose from operational, functional and cost perspectives, and our business is well positioned for long-term success.”
Although the price of gold is up roughly 30 per cent this year, supported by US interest-rate cuts and central bank buying, Newmont shares have advanced just a small fraction of that. BLOOMBERG
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