Newmont Mining is in the situation whereby two overseas companies are hoping to buy its coal tenements. The mining company is selling its coal assets in Queensland which are estimated to hold more than 1.2 billion tones of thermal coal.
The two interested parties are not named but the person familiar with the matter said that the Felton East/West and Lochbar/Bringalily South tenements in Queensland state's Clarence-Moreton Basin were likely to be sold before the year was out.
The Denver, Colorado based company is the second largest producer of gold in the world after Barrick Gold Corp. Since it considered its coal assets in Australia to be non-core it has decided to sell them. The regions it owns in the Clarence Moreton Basin is merely 10 km away from a rail line that has ready access to both Gladstone and Brisbane.
The thermal coal could be developed for export as well if there were capacity available at either port. It is used mostly for the generation of electricity through power plants. News of the sale became confirmed when Newmont Mining appointed Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. Last year to hunt for buyers.