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To: 249443 who wrote (52)	9/22/2002 7:23:58 PM
From: 249443	Respond to of 77

Newmont to divest unwanted Normandy assets - paper mips1.net "SYDNEY - Newmont Mining Corp is set to take advantage of the firming gold market to divest its unwanted Normandy Mining assets, and could float some marginal mines in Australia and New Zealand. The Sydney Morning Herald reports the float, thought to be worth up to $500 million, is one of the avenues Newmont is understood to be pursuing after consulting several investment banks about its divestment options. Newmont, which paid around $4.5 billion for Normandy earlier this year after a takeover battle with rival AngloGold, is keen to generate some additional cash to reduce its expanded debt levels. It has already moved to sell its 9 per cent stake in Lihir Gold, generating a $157 million return by selling the shares in a deal underwritten by Macquarie Equities in early April. Newmont is hoping to pull in at least another $1 billion from the sale of Normandy's TVX gold joint venture in the Americas, the Ovacik goldmine in Turkey, the Perama Hill gold joint venture in Greece, and the Golden Grove zinc mine in Western Australia, as well as several development projects in West Africa. Also on the chopping block is the high-cost Wiluna goldmine in Western Australia and the Martha project in New Zealand, believed to be the cornerstone assets of the proposed gold float. In the longer term, Newmont is also keen to exit its majority position in Australian Magnesium Corp, which is developing a $1.4 billion magnesium metal plant in Queensland. The key appeal in Newmont's competitive bid for Normandy, with its 2 million ounce a year gold output, was its large, low-cost assets such as the half-owned Super Pit in Kalgoorlie and the Bronzewing mine, formerly part of Great Central Mines. Although a gold float is being pursued for Newmont's unwanted Australian assets, the company is understood to favour divesting its TVX and European gold assets through a trade sale. The proposal to divest the assets follows an internal review which focused on identifying Newmont's core company assets. "At the end of the day we have to decide where we're best suited to be a natural owner and where it makes sense for us from a [geographical perspective], and where those assets may create more value with someone else," Newmont's chief financial officer, Bruce Hanson, has said previously. The battle for size in the globally consolidating gold sector saw Newmont combine with gold royalty group Franco Nevada to create a three-pronged company through the Normandy bid. The combined group is now the world's largest gold producer. A rumoured visit by senior Newmont executives to the former Normandy Mining headquarters in Adelaide late next week has added to expectations that they might be about to kickstart the sale process, said the newspaper..."