Newmont Mining Corporation

The National Fish Habitat Action Plan (Action Plan) has unveiled the 2009 10 "Waters to Watch" list, a collection of rivers, streams, lakes, watershed systems and shores that will benefit from strategic conservation efforts to protect, restore or enhance their current condition. These waters represent a snapshot of current conservation effor In Nevada, Maggie Creek has been selected as one of the 10 "Waters to Watch" for 2009. Thanks to the combined actions of concerned community groups, nonprofit organizations, local watershed groups, Native American tribes, and state and federal agencies, these waters are being improved by planting stream-side vegetation, removing structures blocking fish from habitat and protecting bodies of water from effects of industrial processes, agriculture and livestock.

In an effort to improve habitat for Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (LCT) in Nevada, Maggie Creek, located near Carlin, has been the focus of comprehensive watershed restoration and monitoring efforts involving Newmont, Elko Land and Livestock (Newmont-owned), the Elko District Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Trout Unlimited, Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), Open Range Consulting, TS Ranch (Newmont-owned), Maggie Creek Ranch, and Twenty-five Ranch beginning in the early 1990s. Until 1993, the majority of Maggie Creek was grazed by cattle throughout the growing season, resulting in loss of riparian vegetation and degraded stream conditions. Changes in livestock grazing practices in the Maggie Creek basin have resulted in dramatic improvement in stream and riparian habitat conditions. In 2009, continuing LCT habitat restoration in Maggie Basin will include the construction of fish barriers on the lower reaches of Maggie Creek. The barriers would prevent the invasion of non-native fish species, such as small mouth bass and rainbow trout from the Humboldt River, thus protecting LCT in the headwaters and promoting successful population recovery.

Joining Maggie Creek on the 10 Waters to Watch list for 2009 are the Agulowak River (Alaska), Jockey's Ridge State Park (North Carolina), Lake Houston (Texas), Lower Flint River (Georgia), Meramec Watershed Basin (Missouri), Pine Creek (Wisconsin), South Fork Little Conemaugh River (Pennsylvania), Teton Creek (Idaho) and Whitethorn Creek (West Virginia). For more information about The National Fish Habitat Action Plan, visit www.fishhabitat.org.

NEVADA - Newmont's Health Safety and Loss Prevention (HSLP) and Environmental and Social Responsibility (ESR) departments in Nevada are joining their efforts and implementing an Integrated Management System (IMS) to achieve and maintain ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications. The HSLP department received OHSAS 18001 certification for occupational healthy and safety management in 2008, and the ESR department is working toward ISO 14001 certification for environmental management.

The two certifications are similar, with some overlapping requirements, despite the fact that the standards of each apply to different departments. The IMS standards and procedures will meet the requirements of both sets of standards. Through an IMS, the surveillance audits and recertification audits for both ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 will be combined to eliminate duplication of process. While the IMS standards and procedures will ultimately apply to all Newmont North America operations, our initial focus will be on implementation at our Nevada operations.

NEVADA - Newmont's Twin Creeks Mine (Humboldt County, Nevada) and Woodruff Creek Exploration Project (Elko County, Nevada) each received the 2009 Nevada Excellence in Mine Reclamation Award, presented during the Nevada Mining Association's annual convention at Lake Tahoe. Twin Creeks won in the Wildlife Habitat Enhancement category for the site's Rapid Infiltration Basin Reclamation Project, while Woodruff Creek won in the Concurrent Reclamation category.

Now in its 19th year, this awards program is administered jointly by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Nevada Division of Minerals, Nevada Department of Wildlife, US Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service. The program recognizes Nevada miners who are conducting outstanding reclamation of disturbed areas caused by mining and exploration activities. Only 67 awards in all categories have been issued statewide since the program began, and Newmont has accounted for eight of those.

At Twin Creeks, a total of ten Rapid Infiltration Basins (RIBs) were constructed in the 1990s. The purpose of these simple ponds, which are approximately 20 feet deep, was to allow groundwater from the pit dewatering program (water that was not needed for operations) to infiltrate back into the aquifer. But, as at most mine facilities, the RIBs eventually outlived their usefulness. Currently, groundwater seeps into two of the basins during much of the year, providing a source of water for wildlife and livestock, as well as habitat for waterfowl. As a result, Newmont reached an agreement with the Nevada Department of Wildlife to keep those two basins in place. The remaining RIBs were reclaimed as part of our ongoing commitment to concurrent reclamation. This involved moving approximately 600,000 cubic yards of alluvial material. The disturbed area, slightly less than 100 acres, was seeded using a mixture of grasses, shrubs and forbs. Now in the second growing season, re-vegetation appears to be highly successful. Frequent visitors to the site include ducks, antelope, and mule deer.

In an area of disturbance totaling 66 acres, the concurrent exploration and reclamation activities at the Woodruff Creek exploration site (near Carlin, Nevada) were carefully planned, with surface disturbances being reclaimed as soon as they had served their purpose - usually within a year or two of initial disturbance. Because the Woodruff Creek area has many users, including mineral exploration teams, ranchers, and hunters, it is susceptible to the introduction of noxious weeds. The concurrent reclamation at Woodruff utilizes a prescribed seed mix of grasses, forbs, and shrubs that has kept noxious weeds from becoming established in most areas. Although limited amounts of Scotch thistle were observed during a survey along some of the roads, those invasive plants were successfully removed in fall 2008.

The Excellence in Mining Reclamation awards that Newmont received were two of only three such awards issued (in 2009). "Nevada's mining industry should be commended for leading the way in successful reclamation and environmental protection," said Alan Coyner, administrator of the Nevada Division of Minerals. Newmont is proud to be among the leaders about whom Coyner is speaking.

Newmont received two of three Nevada Excellence in Mine Reclamation awards issued this year. The awards were presented during the Nevada Mining Association’s annual conference, held in Lake Tahoe.

NORTH CENTRAL NEVADA - Newmont contributed to two projects designed to preserve habitat for both native wildlife and plants. A team from Newmont's Phoenix Mine (near Battle Mountain, Nevada) worked with the Bureau of Land Management and a local ranch on the Wild Horse Enclosure project, a cooperative effort centered on the protection of a riparian system in Wild Horse Basin to the northwest of the Phoenix Mine.

Newmont supplied fencing and other materials, which were used to build fence barriers around the area. In another project, Newmont crews put up fencing around a small aspen stand near another mine property. New aspen shoots coming out during the spring and summer were being eaten by wandering cows grazing in the surrounding acreage. The growth and spread of that stand will be continually monitored now that it is protected. It is expected that the grove will develop and spread, adding beauty and habitat to the area.

This aspen stand was being threatened by hungry cows nibbling up new shoots from it until Newmont stepped in and built a fence to keep the cows away.

At our Nevada operation in Carlin, one step in the process to recover gold is drying the ore. Currently, fresh air is drawn from outside and heated with natural gas to raise the temperature of the ore so that it dries. In this project we are engineering a recirculation system to recycle hot air that is currently vented to the atmosphere. Investigations into this concept indicate that annual energy savings of more than $700,000 per year and reduced CO₂ emissions of 5,393 metric tons per year can be realized.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), half of the mercury emitted into the environment each year comes from natural processes, and half of the human-generated mercury that is deposited in the western United States comes from industrial sources in Asia.

Mercury occurs naturally in the earth's crust. The western United States, particularly the basin and range province, which includes portions of Nevada, includes significant areas of natural mercury occurrence. Natural processes such as weathering of rock and vaporization from soil, resulting from the sun's heating rays and off-gassing of the world's oceans, emit mercury into the atmosphere.

However, in Nevada and surrounding states, concerns have been raised about mercury air emissions. To reduce mercury air emissions, Newmont's Nevada operations, along with several other mining companies, participated in a voluntary program developed by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and the EPA to reduce mercury emissions from gold mining operations. We do not use mercury in the processing of gold, but some ore naturally contains small amounts of the metal in the mineral cinnabar.

The voluntary program evolved into a state regulation with the full support of Newmont and the mining industry in Nevada. The state of Nevada passed regulations requiring mines to install and operate Maximum Achievable Control Technology for atmospheric emissions of mercury.

Per the mandatory mercury regulations, Newmont completed a great deal of work. The existing mercury controls continued operating along with monitoring, maintenance and testing of those controls and reporting of emissions. Evaluation of all sources of mercury emissions from Nevada operations against the Nevada MACT regulatory requirements was carried out and based on that evaluation a number of new controls have been identified and budgeted for during 2008-2010.

These controls have been proposed in permit applications. Upon completion of the permitting process, these new mercury controls will be installed in 2009 and 2010. One of the new controls include a mercury scrubber at the Twin Creeks autoclaves that also includes energy recovery.

Mines in Nevada also voluntarily contributed funds to the state to carry out a fugitive mercury testing program. Testing at large land-based facilities such as waste rock, heap leach and tailing facilities is being carried out.