Newmont’s 100% owned Peñasquito mine, located in Mexico, reduced its gold reserves from 4.6 in 2023 to 4.1 million ounces in 2024.

Peñasquito is an open pit operation located in the northeast corner of the state of Zacatecas, approximately 125 miles (200 kilometers) northeast of the city of Zacatecas.

Peñasquito Mine

The property commenced production in 2009. In 2010, commercial production was achieved. Goldcorp acquired this property in 2006, when it purchased Glamis. Later, in 2019, Newmont acquired Goldcorp. In this way, Newmont obtained full ownership of Peñasquito. This mining complex is composed of the Peñasco and Chile Colorado open pit mines.

These are Peñasquito’s gold reserves, in millions of ounces:

• 2020: 7.1
• 2021: 6.3.
• 2022: 5.4.
• 2023: 4.6.
• 2024: 4.1.

Due to a union dispute, from June 2023 to October 2023, Minera Peñasquito suspended operations, which negatively affected production and revenues. 

After producing 566,000 ounces of gold in 2022, Peñasquito produced 143,000 ounces in 2023 and then 299,000 ounces in 2024.

Peñasquito is comprised of a total of 20 mining concessions. These concessions cover an area of 113,231 acres (45,823 hectares) for operations. In addition, there are 60 additional mining concessions for exploration, covering 107,456 acres (43,486 hectares). 

Surface rights in the vicinity of the Peñasco and Chile Colorado open pit mines belong to three ejidos: Ejido Cedros, Ejido Mazapil and Ejido Cerro Gordo. Peñasquito has signed land use agreements with each of these ejidos. The agreements are valid until 2035 and 2036, respectively, and agreements have also been signed with the corresponding private landowners.

Regulations

In May 2023, the Mexican government introduced amendments to several key laws for the mining industry. These include the Mining Law and the National Water Law. In Newmont’s view, the reforms pose uncertainty for foreign investors and companies in the mining sector. 

In particular, the reforms are expected to make it more difficult to access and manage land and water rights. Newmont said this will affect mining activities in Mexico, including exploration programs, concessions and community negotiations.

In June 2023, Newmont filed an injunction against the reforms. After, in January 2024, several provisions were provisionally suspended. In addition, in February 2024, the President of Mexico presented new constitutional reforms that could prohibit open-pit mining concessions and limit water use in certain regions.