Suitors line up for Newmont’s North American mining assets

Australian suitors are expected to be conspicuously absent from the data room for gold miner Newmont’s North American assets. Picture: AFP

Canadian advisory firm BMO is now signing up bidders for the sale of Newmont’s North American mining assets, so they can receive confidential documents to enter the data room.

However, Australian suitors are expected to be conspicuously absent, according to sources.

The only exception could be Gold Road Resources, which may bid as a joint venture partner to a Canadian company that would operate the assets.

Australian companies have not had the strongest track record buying and operating assets in Canada and North America, including Evolution Mining, Northern Star and St Barbara.

The North American parcel of assets Newmont is selling includes its Musselwhite, Cripple Creek (US) and Eleonore (Canada) projects. They could be worth about $1.5bn all up.

Expectations are that North American groups will be competing for the assets.

One factor deterring Australian suitors is that the assets on offer are part of the former Gold Corp portfolio that Newmont purchased, and are not considered to be of premium quality.

Newmont merged with the NYSE listed Gold Corp in 2019.