Super Pit ... Super Smart ???, page-26

Since the pit wall failure in 2018 gold production from the super pit has been lower and costs higher. Recent figures may not be a good guide to what the mine is capable of delivering in the future.

In particular the wall failure affected the Morrison cutback which I think is what is underpinning the mine life. Morrison is still going ahead but at a reduced footprint.

Because the super pit is a non-core asset to both Newmont and Barrick, and buried in the back of quarterly reports, it is difficult to find any public information about the future mine plan.

At the beginning of 2018 before the wall failure Newmont was guiding to 390koz-440koz (for its 50% share) at costs of US$695-745/oz. If it can return to those numbers then A$1 Billion does not look expensive. It would be basically double the size of Saracen in output terms.

Key to the market reaction will be clarity on the wall issues and the mine plan.