Waihi mine swept up in Newmont's global cuts
Newmont Waihi Gold announces job cuts and a "significant scaling back" of its exploration programme.
About 20 jobs will be lost and exploration scaled back at Newmont Waihi Gold's mines on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Staff at Newmont’s four Australian mines and its regional headquarters in Australia are also facing likely redundancies.
Newmont Waihi Gold's external affairs manager, Sefton Darby, told NBR ONLINE the redundancies are part of global cuts and had nothing to do with July's truck fire, which initially trapped 28 men.
"Our costs have been going up far faster than the price of gold for the past five years. That means our margins have come down substantially in that time and we have to cut costs in order to remain a viable company."
While exploration and administration will be cut, Mr Darby says it is hoped production will continue "as fast as possible".
In a statement, the company says it is consulting on a proposal which will affect 20 staff and contractors, out of a total workforce of 350.
Where possible the company will offer changes of jobs, the statement says, with final numbers confirmed when consultation ends on October 2.
The price of gold has spiked since the global financial crisis in 2008 as investors fled risk-sensitive assets such as equity markets, and put them in so-called 'safe havens' such as precious metals.
Gold prices have surged 142 percent to $US1763.95 per ounce in the past five years, outpacing the 10 percent appreciation in the New Zealand dollar over the same period which would damp those gains.
Today's job losses come a day after state-owned coal miner Solid Energy said it plans to cut its workforce by a quarter, to 1360, as it winds down its operations in the face of slumping coal prices.
Miners marched on Parliament in Wellington this afternoon to plead their case for government assistance.
Newmont Waihi Gold is owned by US-based giant Newmont Mining Corporation.
- with additional reporting from BusinessDesk
David Williams and Paul McBeth
Tue, 25 Sep 2012
Tue, 25 Sep 2012
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Waihi mine swept up in Newmont's global cuts
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