Newmont's Mission Statement of Environmental Compliance was established in 1991. It states:

Newmont and its affiliates (Newmont) intend to set standards of excellence with regard to environmental matters.

Three supporting policies provide definition to the Environmental Mission Statement.
The first policy is,

Newmont will, at all times, operate its facilities in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

This is a non-ambiguous commitment by Newmont that requires all of its operations to comply with local laws and regulations that apply to its activities.

The second policy states:

Newmont will adopt and adhere to standards that are protective of both human health and the environment at the facilities it builds and operates.

This means Newmont will ensure that environmental factors are included in new and modified facilities. It also applies to discharge to surface of ground water, air emissions and the protection of aquatic and marine environments.

For the design and construction of new facilities, and the modification or expansion of existing facilities, this second policy requires Newmont adheres to the host country’s laws and regulations. However, in some countries, particularly developing countries, minimum design criteria and standards for mining and milling operations either do not exist or require a standard lesser to that which Newmont has set as a minimum of for the Company. In such cases, Newmont’s own (higher) standards are applied, often based on the Nevada Administrative Code governing the design, construction, and operation of mining facilities.

Similarly, when discharges to surface or ground waters are unavoidable, Newmont is required to comply with the host country’s laws and regulations. If country laws are non-existent, inadequate or incomplete, U.S. EPA primary drinking water standards will be deemed the appropriate standards for the protection of human health.

Emissions to air are also required to comply with the host country’s laws and regulations. Where those laws are non-existent, inadequate or incomplete, U.S. EPA national ambient air quality standards will be used.

There are typically no universally applicable or relevant standards to draw upon for the protection of terrestrial, aquatic and marine environments. As such, Newmont aims to protect aquatic, terrestrial and marine environments based on site-specific, risk-based water discharge standards. The risk-based approach is required to address the potential pathways of pollutants from Newmont facilities to the applicable environmental receptors. Again, the operating site must always comply with the host country’s laws and regulations.

The third policy:

Each Newmont operation will develop, during the design phase, and implement closure and reclamation plans that provide for long-term environmental stability and suitable post-mining beneficial land-uses.

Closure and reclamation are the completion of the life cycle of a mining operation. The post closure environmental condition and beneficial and uses of Newmont sites is the Company’s lasting legacy. Consideration of closure and reclamation must occur during the design of a project and must be included as an integral component during the life of the operation. The operations will be managed during the life of each facility in a manner consistent with full implementation of the closure and reclamation plan. The cost of reclamation and closure must also be included in all front-end project evaluations. Adequate financial provisioning for closure and reclamation will be provided for all operations.

To support the activities that are necessary to achieve compliance with the environmental mission statement and policies, Newmont is committed to providing the necessary human and financial resources.

To motivate and reinforce behaviors in employees (and contractors) that support the environmental mission statement and policies, compensation programs include a component linked to annual environmental performance targets.

Each employee (including contractors) will be held accountable for ensuring that those employees, equipment, facilities and resources within his or her area of responsibility are managed to comply with this policy and to minimize environmental risk.