Newmont will focus on expanding beyond the 150,000 tons of copper it currently produces as it develops resources in Ghana, Papua New Guinea and Canada, he said.

The gold miner announced in February it would whittle down its portfolio and sell half a dozen mines around the world, including Telfer in the Pilbara and an adjoining gold and copper prospect called Havieron, in a bid to raise $3.05 billion in cash.

Telfer, a fly-in fly-out gold, copper and silver mine in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert, was part of Newcrest’s portfolio along with the Cadia mine in NSW and Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea, when it was absorbed by Colorado-based Newmont last November.

Palmer said there was strong interest in the Telfer gold mine.

“We had a high level of interest through the first phase and we’ve taken six or seven organisations into second phase. That’s progressing very well and there is good interest,” he said.

Gold prices are on a tear, rising above $US2400 an ounce in May, underpinned by the US dollar, elevated interest rates, inflation and buying by the world’s central banks, particularly China.

Loading

But precious metal’s meteoric rise isn’t reflected in the equity value of gold producers, a dissonance Palmer attributes to the $300 an ounce production cost increase that assailed the industry after Russia’s war against Ukraine sparked severe global inflation. “There’s a decoupling there,” he said.

While the value of gold producers hasn’t followed the gold price curve, Palmer believes Newmont’s steady yearly production of around 7 million gold ounces and its ability to maintain margins through the price cycle can “break the trend that you’re seeing in gold equities”.