Perseus Mining boss Jeff Quartermaine says his company is interested in the Ghanaian gold mine put up for sale by Newmont on Friday, as the world’s biggest gold miner declared Australia’s Telfer hub is also heading for new ownership.

Newmont chief executive Tom Palmer said he wanted to reduce the gold giant’s portfolio down to exclusively “tier one” assets, and that shift would require the sale of Telfer, the Akyem mine in Ghana, and four North American mines: Porcupine, Cripple Creek, Musselwhite and Eleonore.