Newmont Mining Corporation

In support of our mercury management policy, Newmont began permanently retiring mercury in 2011, using different approaches as dictated by country specific regulations.

Newmont does not use elemental mercury for processing at any operation, but it exists naturally in ore at our Yanacocha, Nevada and Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) operations, primarily as mercury sulfide (cinnabar). Our gold-recovery processes recover this naturally occurring mineral as elemental mercury, which can be toxic if not properly controlled.

Previously, Newmont sold byproduct elemental mercury to qualified mercury brokers who would only sell it for use in compact fluorescent light bulbs, switches, relays and other qualified end uses. Now, as the next step in our commitment to environmental stewardship and social responsibility, we are retiring our byproduct mercury so that it is no longer in circulation in the ecosphere.

Yanacocha is able to ship byproduct elemental mercury to Germany for stabilization and disposal. A German firm processes the elemental mercury with elemental sulfur to produce mercury sulfide, the form that occurs naturally in Yanacocha ore. The stable mercury sulfide is packaged and permanently retired in legacy German salt mines as backfill material during mine closure.

 In the U.S., laws prohibit the export of mercury, so we are engaging with the U.S. Department of Energy on storage and disposal options for byproduct mercury created by our Nevada operations. State regulations have mandated since 2006 that all Nevada mines strictly control atmospheric emissions of mercury and report their releases to the Toxic Release Inventory.

Top: Bags of mercury sulfide stored inside legacy German salt mines.
Middle: In Germany, elemental mercury from Yanacocha is transformed into mercury sulfide and stored in legacy salt mines.

Right: Mercury sulfide is naturally found in ore.

The Phoenix, Gold Quarry and Twin Creeks operations have installed maximum achievable control technology to cut emissions even further, and Midas plans to do the same later this year. All of these operations are working to reduce mercury emissions by two-thirds of their 2007-08 baseline by the end of 2013. In Australia, KCGM has managed mercury emissions through a carbon kiln/ mercury scrubber, personal protective equipment and improved ventilation.

The operation is working toward building an ultra-low emission facility that will reduce mercury emissions by at least 90 percent. More information about how Newmont manages mercury can be found at www.BeyondtheMine.com.

May 15, 2012