Overview

Over the past two years, Newmont has significantly advanced the Ahafo project as part of its new core district of operations in Ghana. Newmont acquired these projects as part of the Normandy Mining acquisition in February 2002.

The Ahafo land position grew 125% between 2003 and 2004 to approximately 621 square miles, due to the highly prospective nature of the area. The land position consists of 299 square miles of Mining and Prospecting Licenses (774 square kilometers), and 322 square miles of Reconnaissance Licenses (834 square kilometers) along an approximate 30-mile (47-kilometer) strike length. To date, 11 ore bodies have been defined with significant potential for further discoveries and extensions to the known deposits at depth and along strike. Feasibility studies are underway to evaluate the possibility of expanding production capacity in the North area.

Engineering and procurement for the Ahafo project are essentially complete. In the field, camp and general infrastructure are well progressed as is concrete work for the process plant. Major works on the process plant are on course with construction progress and were 60% complete at the end of August. Project development is on schedule to deliver its first gold production in the second-half of 2006.

Exploration Potential

In 2005, reserve growth is expected to continue with the infill drilling of the mineralized material, drilling of strike and depth extensions of known deposits and exploration of targets within Newmont's strategic land package.

Above: Ahafo – tenement plan.