Soaring gold price sees Newmont vye for No. 4 ranking

Soaring gold prices have helped Newmont (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT) vie for fourth place among the world’s most valuable mining companies.

Newmont briefly surpassed China’s Zijin Mining (HK: 2899) this week after completing its non-core divestiture program with the finalized sales of its Akyem operation in Ghana and Porcupine property in Canada. The two transactions are expected to generate about $850 million in after-tax cash proceeds, before closing adjustments.

Gold soared to another record high on Wednesday to breach the $3,300-an-ounce level as escalating US-China trade tensions steered investors towards the safe-haven asset. Spot gold set a new peak of $3,318.80, taking its gain since the start of 2025 to more than 26% after a 27% increase last year.

Shares of Newmont are up about 44% year-to-date in New York Stock Exchange trading, bringing the company’s market capitalization to about $62 billion. They fell 1.6% Thursday to close at $55.08.

Newmont’s stock performance stands in stark contrast to its three biggest peers—BHP, Rio Tinto, and Southern Copper—all of which have seen negative returns so far this year through Thursday.

Top Miners	Country	Market Cap	Share YTD
BHP Group		$116.6B	-5.51%
Rio Tinto Group		$97.96B	-1.09%
Southern Copper		$68.73B	-5.72%
Zijin Mining Group		$63.01B	17.39%
Newmont		$62.15B	43.55%

Denver-based Newmont launched its divestiture program in February 2024, aiming to generate up to $4.3 billion in total gross proceeds, including $3.8 billion from non-core asset sales and $527 million from the sale of other investments.

“This is a significant milestone for Newmont, as we have now divested all six of our non-core operations from the program announced in early 2024,”

Tom Palmer, Newmont’s CEO

As part of the asset sales, Discovery Silver (TSE: DSV) acquired the Porcupine operation in January. The complex produced 260,000 ounces of gold in 2023.