Newmont (TSX:NGT) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.
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The full earnings call is available at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/351410623
Summary
Newmont reported strong Q1 2026 results with significant free cash flow generation of $3.1 billion and $3.8 billion in cash flow from operations.
The company faced operational challenges like a magnitude 4.5 earthquake near Cadia but managed to ensure safety and expects to return to full capacity by end of Q2.
A new $6 billion share repurchase authorization was announced, reinforcing Newmont’s capital allocation framework to return value to shareholders.
Despite geopolitical and energy cost pressures, Newmont maintains its cost guidance, leveraging productivity improvements and supply chain management.
Key operational highlights include strong gold, copper, and silver production, with record free cash flow driven by favorable metal prices and cost management.
Full Transcript
OPERATOR
Ask questions. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Newmont’s group Head of treasury and Investor Relations, Neil Backhouse. Neil, please go ahead.
Neil Backhouse (Group Head of Treasury and Investor Relations)
Thank you, Christine. Hello everyone, and thank you for joining Newmont’s first quarter 2026 results conference call. Joining me today are Natasha Foljoun, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Wexler, our Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer, and other members of our management team who will be available to answer questions at the end of the call. Before we begin, please take a moment to review our cautionary statement shown here and refer to our SEC filings, which can be found on our website. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Natasha.
Natasha Foljoun
Thank you, Neil, and hello everyone. Newmont’s focus on operational excellence continues to deliver consistent and predictable performance, with our first quarter results demonstrating that we are on track to achieve our 2026 guidance. And importantly, this consistency is reflected in our compelling financial results. Our unrivalled portfolio of high quality operations and projects, combined with our focus on cost discipline and productivity, positions us to capture the benefits of higher commodity prices even amid the operational headwinds we experienced in the first quarter, delivering margin expansion and robust free cash flow generation. The benefits of record free cash flow generation are flowing through our enhanced capital allocation framework, resulting in continuous reinvestment in our business, a predictable quarterly dividend and ongoing share repurchases, supplemented by a new $6 billion share repurchase authorisation. But before we review our quarterly results in more detail, I want to begin with an update on Cadia following the magnitude 4.5 earthquake that occurred near the operation on April 14. As mentioned in our released statements, our immediate priority was the safety of our people. Our safety protocols operated as designed and within minutes of the event, all personnel working underground were moved to safe locations before being brought to surface in the subsequent hours following the event. And I’m really pleased to share that there were no injuries. Based on our initial findings, the damage appears limited, reflecting the strength of our ground control systems. I’m pleased to report that the underground power and dewatering systems have been restored and we received approval from the regulator earlier this week to begin repairs. Importantly, all surface infrastructure was inspected immediately following the event and sustained no damage. This includes our tailings facilities. From an operational standpoint, we are currently processing surface stockpiles and expect underground rehabilitation to be completed in the next five weeks, enabling return to 80% operating capacity, with full recovery expected by the end of the second quarter. As a result, second quarter production is expected to be lower due to this short gap in milk feed, with operations returning to normal levels beginning the third quarter. I want to recognise and personally thank the team at Cadia. We responded quickly and effectively, implementing established emergency procedures to ensure the safety of all personnel and positioning the operation for the best possible recovery. Turning now to our operational performance, in the first quarter we produced 1.3 million ounces of gold, 30,000 tonnes of copper and 9 million ounces of silver, with both copper and silver volumes supporting a favorable by product cost profile for the quarter. As the third largest silver producer in the world. We also benefited from a favorable silver price environment, further supporting our free cash flow generation and unit cost management. The performance translated into strong financial results including $3.8 billion in cash flow from operations after working capital and $3.1 billion in free cash flow, marking another all time quarterly record which is especially notable given the seasonal working capital headwinds typically experienced in the first quarter of each year. During the quarter we also received approximately $321 million in after tax proceeds from the sale of equity investments in Solgold and Greatland Resources along with contingent payments related to the divestments of Musselwhite and Cripple Creek Invicta last year, bringing total after tax proceeds received from our non core divestiture program to over $4.6 billion, touching briefly on cost performance which Peter will cover in a little bit more detail shortly. Over the last few weeks the world has experienced a notable increase in energy prices and impacts to global supply chain dynamics as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. We continue to monitor the geopolitical environment and its potential impact on cost closely but remain encouraged by our demonstrated ability to effectively manage cost and improve productivity and are therefore maintaining our full year cost guidance at this time. Taking our strong first quarter operational and financial performance into account, we expect to remain well positioned to continue executing on the enhanced capital allocation allocation framework that we have announced in February. Since our last earnings call, we have reduced debt by an additional $42 million and are pleased to share that we have returned $2.7 billion to shareholders through both regular dividends and ongoing share repurchases, fully exhausting our previous repurchase authorisation. In line with our established approach, our Board has approved another $6 billion shared repurchase program, reinforcing our enhanced capital allocation framework and disciplined approach to returning excess cash to shareholders. This framework is designed to systematically reduce Newmont’s share count and in doing so driving sustainable per share dividend growth and improved across other key per share metrics. Building on our strong first quarter performance and looking ahead to the rest of the year, we remain on track to achieve our 2026 guidance, continue generating robust free cash flow from our world class portfolio and return capital to shareholders in a consistent manner. Operationally we delivered a stronger than expected quarter, especially considering challenging conditions faced by several of our sites including the bushfires at Boddington where we have since made a full recovery with full throughput capacity back to normal levels for the second quarter we’ve had extreme snowfall at Brucejack and record levels of rainfall at Tanami. This performance underscores the strength and resilience of our world class portfolio. Build around high quality long life assets that are intentionally diversified both operationally and jurisdictionally to deliver consistent performance across a range of operating conditions, not only withstanding volatility as it arises but also capturing value from it. Giving this strong start to the year, we believe it is appropriate to maintain our existing production whiting. Our first quarter outperformance provides prudent flexibility to absorb any impact from temporary interruptions to mole feed at CADI in the second quarter as we progress recovery efforts following the earthquake first quarter production was driven by several key factors. At Cadia we saw a step up in gold and copper production compared to the fourth quarter supported by improved throughput and favourable grades from the current panel cave At Marian production also increased compared to the fourth quarter as we begin to access higher grades from Marion to Pit as planned. At a half zero south production increased due to higher mining rise and improved underground draw point availability. At Yanacocha we delivered stronger leach production performance from high grades out of Catcher Main and as we discussed last quarter we have begun executing on a highly capital efficient plan to continue mining operations through 2026 and into 2027, adding low cost ounces that are expected to benefit our production profile in 2027. With further potential upside, Minasquito delivered strong co product production in the quarter, particularly silver and zinc as we continue to process stockpiles during the transition phase between phase seven and phase eight and finally the ramp up at Ahafone north continues to progress very well and in line with plan in its first full year of commercial production. We also achieved several notable milestones in our projects in execution during the quarter. At our Tanami Expansion 2 project work has now fully resumed following the temporary pause earlier in the quarter. With the underground primary crusher now commissioned and the materials handling system on track for completion by the end of the second quarter, we have also completed the investigation into the fatality that occurred at Tanami earlier this year and are committed to ensuring the learnings are shared across our organisation and with a broader industry. At Cadia, both PC23 and PC12 are progressing well and is tracking to plan as they move through key phases of development. Newmont’s first quarter performance continues to highlight the strength and resilience of our portfolio as well as the progress we have made to stabilise and improve our operations, positioning us to deliver consistent performance and achieve our full year commitments. I will now turn the call over to Peter to walk through our financial results for the quarter.
Peter Wexler (Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer)
Thank you Natasha and hello everyone. Newmont delivered outstanding financial results in the first quarter driven by strong operational performance that Natasha just outlined and the supportive metal price environment. Our continued focus on disciplined execution resulted in adjusted EBITDA of $5.2 billion in adjusted net income of $2.90 per diluted share for the quarter. But most notably, Newmont generated $3.8 billion in cash flow from operations after working capital and a record $3.1 billion of free cash flow even after making approximately $1.3 billion in cash tax payments during the quarter. Gold all in sustaining costs were below our full year guidance at 1,029 dollars for the first quarter. On a byproduct basis, our cost profile benefited meaningfully from stronger than expected co product pricing and sales volumes, lower cost applicable to sales as a result of disciplined capital spending and the timing of sustaining capital. As Natasha noted earlier, we are maintaining our cost guidance and while higher oil prices may create incremental pressure, we view this as manageable at this time and are actively working to mitigate the impact rather than viewing it as a risk to our operating plan. And as a reminder, the guidance we provided in February was based on a $70 per barrel Brent assumption with diesel making up approximately 6% of our direct operating cost for every $10 per barrel change in oil prices we we expect approximate $60 million impact on cost which equates to roughly a $12 per ounce impact on all in sustaining costs. We are not currently experiencing any disruption to fuel availability and continue to maintain business continuity by leveraging our scale and strong supply chain team which is working closely with suppliers to proactively identify and manage risks. While higher fuel prices began to materialize in March, we remain focused on offsetting these pressures through continued cost and productivity improvements across our operations. In addition, in February we quantified the potential annual impact of the newly introduced Ghana Sliding Scale Royalty on our cost profile. While this will represent an incremental cost headwind of approximately $25 per ounce in 2026, our goal is to mitigate the impact through disciplined cost management and productivity initiatives. Looking ahead to the second quarter, we expect production to be slightly below the first quarter, keeping us on track to deliver our full year Production guidance of 5.3 million ounces sustaining capital is expected to increase in the second quarter as we move into the summer season at Bruce Jack and Redcris, take delivery of mobile equipment at multiple sites and continue progressing tailings work primarily at Cadia and Boddington. Similarly, development capital is expected to increase beginning in the second quarter as we progress the expansion at Sierra Negro, advance the feasibility study work at Redcris, and begin spending on the Lahir nearshore Barrier project later this year with our full year guidance of $1.4 billion remaining weighted to the second half. All in sustaining costs are expected to be notably higher in the second quarter and more in line with the guidance we provided in February driven by the ramp up in sustaining capital, higher cost applicable to sales and lower silver production than we saw in the four score first quarter as planned Turning to capital allocation, last quarter we introduced our enhanced capital allocation framework which is underpinned by net cash from operations and prioritizes cash flow in a clear and disciplined manner. This framework is designed to be sustainable through the cycle, maximize shareholder returns and maintain a strong and flexible balance sheet and we are already seeing the positive benefits of this framework in action through our first quarter results. Within this framework, excess cash is first allocated to sustaining capital spend and our dividend priorities that are intended to remain consistent through the cycle. We continue to invest in sustaining capital to strengthen the longevity and integrity of our portfolio with $381 million spent in the first quarter. Next, cash is allocated to our sustainable total cash dividend of $1.1 billion per year, which is paid quarterly. In the first quarter, we declared a dividend of $0.26 per share which is consistent with the last quarter and aligned with this approach. Following these commitments, our development capital spend and balance sheet position may flex over time to reflect portfolio needs and and broader market conditions. We continue to invest in development capital to advance our highest return opportunities from our deep organic pipeline with $239 million deployed in the first quarter. At the same time, we remain committed to maintaining a resilient balance sheet anchored by our net cash target of $1 billion plus or minus $2 billion over the course of a year. The target is managed on an annual basis and may vary quarter to quarter due to macroeconomic conditions, including the recent volatility in gold price. Once these priorities are met, excess cash is allocated to share repurchases. Since our last earnings call, we have repurchased $2.4 billion in shares, fully completing our previous authorization and bringing the total repurchases to $6 billion since we began repurchasing shares over 24 months ago. As a result, our Board has doubled the size of our share repurchase program with an additional 6 billion dollarslar authorization representing our fourth authorization since February 2024. We intend to execute this program consistently in line with our capital allocation framework, reflecting our confidence in the intrinsic value of our shares and benefits of these repurchases and the benefits these repurchases deliver over time. As we approach completion of this authorization, we expect to seek additional approval from our Board, consistent with our disciplined and repeatable approach to returning excess cash to shareholders. Both our share repurchase program and the resulting per share dividend growth are formulaic outputs of our capital allocation framework, with repurchases systematically reducing our share count, driving higher per share metrics and increasing shareholder exposure to the strong free cash flow generated by our portfolio. In fact, on a per share basis, our free cash flow is already 6% higher than it would have been prior to initiating our share repurchase program. At its core, this framework is designed to deliver sustained per share growth, maintain balance sheet strength and provide shareholders with consistent and growing exposure to the value generated by our world class portfolio. With that, I’ll turn the call back over to Natasha for closing remarks.
Natasha Foljoun
Thank you Peter. In closing, Newmont has had a very strong start to this year, reflecting the deliberate progress we have made to strengthen our operations and enhance the capabilities of our teams and systems. Driven by disciplined execution and a clear focus on our commitments, we remain on track to achieve our 2026 guidance supported by solid operational and financial performance in the first quarter and are well positioned to drive margin expansion and and generate strong free cash flow through continued cost discipline and productivity improvements across our world class portfolio which continues to deliver stable and consistent results. Our enhanced capital allocation framework is translating that performance into shareholder returns through a predictable dividend and ongoing share repurchases supported by a new $6 billion authorization. Looking ahead, we’ll continue to leverage our industry leading portfolio and deep bench strength of expertise across all functions to build a stable and resilient future for Newmont, positioning us to generate growing free cash flow and deliver increasing returns on a per share basis. Even in a dynamic macroeconomic environment. Before turning to questions, I want to briefly address that we continue to engage constructively with our Nevada Gold Mines joint venture partner with a clear focus on improving the performance of our shared assets and delivering long term value for Neomont shareholders. With that, we look forward to addressing your questions. And I will now hand it back to Christine, our operator to open the call for questions.
OPERATOR
We will now begin the question and answer session. We ask that you please limit inquiries to one primary question and one follow up question. If you would like to ask a question, please press star, then one to raise your hand. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, press star, then one again. At this time we will pause to assemble our roster. Our first question comes from Tanya Jasinek with Scotiabank. Tanya, your line is open. Can you hear me? Yes, yes we can, Tanya. Okay, great.
Tanya Jasinek
Thank you. Thank you for taking my question. Natasha, can you comment on where we are on the whole process with the default that was issued on February of this year with respect to Nevada Gold Mines?
Natasha Foljoun
Yeah, thank you, Tanya. Good question. I’ll start and then I’ll hand over to Peter to get into a little bit more detail. Tanya, for starters, as we said in our prepared remarks, our focus remains firstly on improving the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture performance. And then we are continuously working with our joint venture partner to gain more information around 4 mile and the work that we need to do there. And then for the notice of default specifically I’ll hand over to Peter Wexler.
Peter Wexler (Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer)
Thank you Tanya, for the question. The period of the notice of default is open ended and we’re working with them, as Natasha said earlier, to work on the operations and we work through an orderly process on the notice of default including exercising our audit rights, reviewing those findings. So it’s really just an ongoing process at this point in time.
Tanya Jasinek
Okay, so my follow up question is that I’m just trying to understand how long this process is going to take. So I’m assuming that you’ve had meetings with them, you’ve, you know, gotten the information or Barrick has handed over the information that you’ve asked for and now you’re in the process of reviewing this and talking to Barrick on, you know, how we move forward. I’m just trying to understand the procedure and what to expect on a time.
Peter Wexler (Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer)
Actually, While you may see timelines in the agreements, it’s more of an iterative process between the two companies. So we have questions and follow up questions on information and as you correctly assumed, they respond to us and we work productively through those answers. There’s no set timeline for bringing it to resolution, but we hope to do so in the near term and make sure that Nevada Gold Mines is operating at the highest level possible.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Matthew Murphy with BMO Markets. Matthew, your line is open.
Matthew Murphy
Thank you. Congratulations on a strong first quarter. Can you take us through where operations were beating your expectations and it sounds like Q2 may be a little bit down quarter on quarter. Should we think about Q2 as sort of the lowest production quarter for the business and then progressive sort of momentum from there?
Natasha Foljoun
Yes, Matthew, and thank you for for that question. I think if we look at quarter one, the improved performance that we have seen was across firstly Yanacocha where we saw a beat after the last catcher main ore that we have mined, that we see the benefit of that coming through. We have also seen improved throughput and grade from Caidia coming through and that was certainly the basis of that improvement. Then the silver production at Benasquito higher than what we have delivered at any quarter last year and that’s just a phasing on where we are in the pit and I think importantly also strongly supported by really high silver prices. We have also treated the last remind while the last remaining stockpile from our Subica Open Pit material at Ohafo south. And we started to see Ohafo north obviously continuing well with its production ramp up. As we look into the second quarter and we’ve depleted the Subiko Open pit stocks at Ahavo South. We do see lower grades coming from A Penso and a Warsaw Open pits for Penasquito in this quarter we will have some months that we are treating organic carbon and therefore we will also see lower silver production. And then of course as we’ve touched on earlier, we will see the recovery process that we are working through at Caelia. So therefore a slightly lower quarter as expected and we’ll see that we’ll see the third quarter coming back stronger.
Matthew Murphy
Okay, and as a second question, slightly different topic but related to the CFO recruitment process. Peter, certainly Newmont’s delivering results with you and the CFO chair, but there is the interim in the title. So Natasha, any update on how that recruitment process is going?
Natasha Foljoun
That recruitment process is going well, Matthew, and we trust that we’ll be able to share more information soon.
Matthew Murphy
Thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Anita Soni with cibc. Anita, you are live.
Anita Soni
Hi. Thanks for taking my question, Natasha. I just wanted to ask when it comes to the discussions around Four Mile. Have you had any, any discussions with Barrick on bringing that into the joint venture partnership?
Natasha Foljoun
At this stage, Anita, we continue to collect information on formal and to do our technical evaluation as I think as we’ve touched on before.
Anita Soni
Okay, sorry I missed that. And then just in terms of the. Some of the mine sequencing, I think you touched upon the stockpile processing that you would be doing at Cadia. Can you give us an indication, I guess stockpile to, you know, to bridge the gap between pulling ore from the underground. But could you give us an indication of what grade those stockpiles are at right now?
Natasha Foljoun
Anita, we’ll have to come back to you. I can’t give you an indication but I’ll ask Neil to just give you the feedback on the grade.
Anita Soni
Okay. All right, thank you. That’s it for my question.
Natasha Foljoun
Thanks, Anita.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Lawson Winder with Bank of America securities. Lawson, your line is open.
Lawson Winder
Thank you, operator. Hello Natasha and team. Nice quarterly result and thank you for today’s update. Can I ask about the cost pressures? I mean I think it’s notable the impressive unit cost results in Q1 considering what have been relatively significant cost pressures on energy. Could you speak to some of the levers that Newmont can pull in order to ensure that input cost inflation doesn’t drive 2026 unit cost guidance above the range? And then to what extent might new model be insulated from cost pressures across the supply chain?
Natasha Foljoun
Lawson, thank you for that question. And indeed we were very pleased with quarter one’s all in sustaining costs on a byproduct basis. Firstly, we know that we have seen the work that we’ve done last year both on productivity improvement and cost reduction. And now going into cost discipline, we’ve seen that benefit flow through in various aspects of our of our cas. Our CAS was impacted in the first quarter by elements like Tanami that we where we saw a period of stoppage due to the fatality. We have also had lower production into areas predominantly Lijia and Sierra Negro due to shutdowns that we’ve had that impacted CAS. And then we’ve seen just a seasonal lower sustaining capital for quarter one. With the discipline that we’ve established last year. The levers sits in two areas. The one is in productivity where the best way for us to offset the increased cost pressures that we see from input cost through higher productivity we have seen through the last quarter and going into this year as an example, where we have parked a high number of pieces of equipment right across all of our operations to help us to reduce consumption. That’s certainly the first area that we will be focusing on. We will also continue to do that cost discipline work to offset the impact of higher gold price and the impact that it has in royalties and worker participants. As we think going forward, we have not seen the full impact coming through on increased fuel cost. And the same levers that I’ve touched on just now will continue to be the levers that we will pull both in terms of fuel cost, but also the second and third order consequences that might come through on the back of as we see higher energy cost flowing through. In the meantime, we have a really strong supply chain team that works closely with our suppliers and we certainly leveraging across the different jurisdictions the benefits that we have with a geographical spread to pull all of the levers we can to both sustain supply and manage cost.
OPERATOR
Okay, that that’s extremely helpful. If I could ask what might not be a quick follow up, but could be. Yes, sorry, Lawson. Yes. Question while Lawson gets back on, our next question in the meantime will be from Josh Wolfson with rbc. Josh, you are currently live.
Josh Wolfson
Thank you very much. I’ll follow on Lawson’s questions. Hopefully I’m not taking them before he has a chance to redial in. You know, thank you for providing some of that disclosure on energy price or oil price impact and the diesel overall exposure. You mentioned some of the secondary factors there. Is there any way the company can quantify the impact of sensitivity to some of these overall primary and secondary impacts and based on current prices?
Natasha Foljoun
Josh? Not at this stage. I think the sensitivities that we supply both firstly on fuel and then also just our cost mix is what we have available at this stage.
Josh Wolfson
Okay, thanks. And then just following on that theme of costs, you know, beyond the energy side of things, is there any commentary the company can provide in terms of, you know, broader trends in terms of costs and that would include, you know, labor or reagents and then alongside that regionally, is there any perspective the team can provide maybe where there’s higher pressures or lower pressures? Thank you,
Natasha Foljoun
Josh. I think if I think through the various elements of our cost, labor, materials and services and energy. I think we’ve spoken at length about energy. Labor is always a continuous conversation and we do see our agreements with labor coming up for renewal on a continuous basis across all of the jurisdictions we operate in. So far we have been able to get agreements in place with every in all of the areas that we were negotiating new agreements. So nothing more than what we have planned for and has been included in our guidance. And then of course the last one is what we’ve just discussed on services and materials, nothing else.
Josh Wolfson
Okay. And then maybe perspective regionally there if there’s any specific areas where you see inflation higher or lower?
Natasha Foljoun
No, I think Lawson, not on inflation cost due to higher cost due to higher gold prices and royalties and workers participation, but not inflation more in specific areas. No.
Josh Wolfson
Thank you very much.
OPERATOR
The next question we have comes from Lawson Winder again from bank of America securities. Lawson, you’re live. Just want to. Before I ask my question, I want to double check. You can hear me. Yes, we can, Lawson.
Lawson Winder
Okay, thank you for taking the follow up. I think Josh actually covered off a lot of the questions. But you know something else that I’ve had on on my mind is just the M and A outlook. We’ve seen some activity from one of your peers already this week and I mean based on the work we’ve done, it’s a pretty conducive environment for M and A. What’s Newmont’s appetite for acquisitions at the current moment?
Natasha Foljoun
Thanks. Thanks Lawson. And Josh, I do apologise if you’re still on the line. I believe I’ve just called you Lawson because. Lawson, I thought we’re still talking to you. So Lawson, just from a disciplined capital allocation point of view, our focus remains firmly firstly on continuing to drive our own operations to be the best operators of these operations and to get them to operate in the way that they should. Then we have a number of brownfields opportunities firstly that we believe would be very value accretive for us. And then of course by the time we get to greenfields projects and any what could be acquisition opportunities, it will have to compete for capital within the broader portfolio. So our focus at this stage remains firmly internally on our own operations. operations.
Lawson Winder
Thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Fahad Tariq with Jeffries. Fahad, your line is now open.
Fahad Tariq
Hi, thanks for taking my question. There was a headline yesterday that Ghana is asking Newmont, among other companies to shift mining operations to local firms by the end of this year. Maybe just any color you can provide on thoughts around that and whether that timing is feasible, what that could mean for cost, etc.
Natasha Foljoun
Farhad, a very, very relevant topic for us. I think firstly I need to start by saying that we all know that we’ve got a long history in Ghana and we have been over this period of time invested, I think responsibly and we’ve built good relationships. The contractor Mining issue is not new for us. We have been working with the Minerals Commission on this matter over a period of time and also on our approach to this matter. And it’s important to note that we are following a process that is commercially and technically disciplined. Because what we want to do is to ensure that what we develop here has long term options for our investments in Ghana and also in support of government’s objectives here. We are in active engagement not only with the Minerals Commission, but I had an opportunity last week to meet with President Muhammad and I think these relationships and conversations are very constructive and in the best interest of all parties.
Fahad Tariq
And then maybe just as a follow up based on the work that you’ve done or the team has done, would it be possible to use local contractors for all the mining operations if the deadline doesn’t change? In other words, is that something that’s even feasible?
Natasha Foljoun
It depends on how you define mining operations and there are certainly certain mining operations that there is good capacity and capability in Ghana, but other areas that’s more technically complex that will both impact the productivity of our operations, the safety of our operations. We hold a very firm view on how we approach any of those areas. So I think it is a combination. If we think about some of the more bulk kind of operations across mining, there’s definitely capability, but not in all aspects.
Fahad Tariq
Okay, great. Thank you very much.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Daniel Morgan with Baron Joey. Daniel, your line is now open.
Daniel Morgan
Hi Natasha. Just on the supply chain, my question is not on cost but on availability. So with regard to diesel and everything else that you need to run your business, is there anything in the supply chain you can identify that you might face shortages on that could impact your business outcomes at all?
Natasha Foljoun
Daniel, note as such there’s nothing that we have identified. We do however keep a very close eye on all of our suppliers supply chain. Not only the primary, the primary supply, but also how this primary impact on energy for instance, will impact some of the second and third order consequences of any potential disruptions. And we’re working very closely with suppliers, industry partners and governments to, to support our operations.
Daniel Morgan
Thank you very much. And just on Cadia, my question is not related to the earthquakes. It continues to outperform expectations. With regard to grade, is that positive grade reconciliation or is it higher grade or presenting itself earlier than thought? Basically I’m just wondering if this win we’ve had in recent times means we see lower production in future periods.
Natasha Foljoun
Thank you, Daniel. What we’re seeing is coming through the existing caves, PC2 specifically. So it is higher grade reconciliation and we continue to expect this grade to decrease as we get to the end of this cave life.
Daniel Morgan
Okay, that’s very clear. Thank you Natasha and Tim.
Natasha Foljoun
Thanks Daniel.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from Daniel Major with ubs. Daniel, your mic is now live.
Daniel Major
Hi Natasha, thanks very much for the questions. Yeah, first one, just thinking about the business beyond the current year. You’ve not been guiding on a three year basis. Do you intend to reinstate medium term guidance at some point in the future? And then the second part of that question. If you’re looking in asset level at least directionally, what would you be expecting for the major moving parts into 2027 if you can give any steer at this point?
Natasha Foljoun
Daniel, we know that there’s a keen interest for us to give multi year guidance and as we work through this year we will, we are keeping that in mind to consider that for 2027 guidance. If I think about 2027 and key movements as we see this portfolio getting back to growing back to the 6 million ounces, the areas that’s of interest for us is if I just think through the various jurisdictions here, we’re starting to get into high grade areas. That’s part of the mine plan and part of the work that we’ve been doing there. Caidias, we see the new caves come on Boddington as we complete the pushbacks and getting into higher grade areas half a north getting fully ramping up. Cerro Negro as we continue to drive really hard on the, on the productivity work there. And we have some other shorter term options that will come online. Yanacocha, as we see this, the, the shorter term additional production from mining coming on as well. So those are some of the, the early movers that will help us to you you will remember we’ve said that in 2026 we run a trough. Those are the big movers that will start to build up on the other side of the trough.
Daniel Major
Okay, so the message is that very much this is the trough year and there should be meaningful improvement in their subsequent years. Is that the right read on that?
Natasha Foljoun
Yeah, no, that’s exactly. Thanks Daniel.
Daniel Major
Okay, and maybe if I could ask my follow up question just on a similar growth trajectory, you’ve indicated the intention to fid the Red Cross project in the second half of this year. Can you give us any idea on the magnitude of kind of increase relative to the previous CAPEX estimates provided by Newcrest?
Natasha Foljoun
Daniel, the process that we’re following is a very structured process. We have taken on board the lessons from the fall of ground that we’ve had last year. We’re progressing really well with that work. We also progressing well with the engagements with our Teltan community to progress our permits. So all of that is tracking well and we will be able to give you a proper estimate that you will hopefully know by now. We want to say what we do and do what we say. So by the time we give you an estimate on capital, it will be an estimate that we will hold ourselves accountable for.
Daniel Major
Okay, thanks so much.
OPERATOR
Our last question comes from Bob Brackett with Bernstein Research. This will be our last question question. Bob, your line is now open.
Bob Brackett
Thank you very much. Good evening. I had a follow up related to the notice of default. If I understand it properly, there was an identified event of default related to evidence of mismanagement, diversion of resources at the jv. You filed the notice of default and there could be a range of remedies, something as simple that that Barrick offers a cure related to that event of default, up to much more consequential remedies. Can you talk about the range of remedies and what are your rights under the JV related to those?
Natasha Foljoun
Thank you, Bob. I’m going to ask Peter Wexler to respond to that.
Peter Wexler (Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer)
Sure, Bob. And I think you captured it accurately in your statement. There are a range of possibilities and discussing each and every range probably is not practicable. I think at the end of the day if the best way to look at it is we’re working through the process, as I told one of the other analysts, and we are going back and forth in this iterative process to try and understand exactly each other’s viewpoint on what transpired and how things were working. Once we’ve done through that process, then either there’s a potential meeting of the minds or another avenue would have to be followed. We hope it’s the former because that is part of getting NGM back on track. But like you said, there’s a range of possibilities and we are working through the structured process in the JV agreement and where that takes us, well, hopefully we’ll work that out between us and not need to resort to any third parties intervening and viewpoints.
Bob Brackett
Very good. Quick follow up. Third party intervention. Would that be arbitration or litigation?
Peter Wexler (Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer)
It depends. It depends. We hope it, you know that there’s a wide variety of ways we could, we could pursue that path if it. If and when it became necessary. We certainly hope it doesn’t.
Bob Brackett
Very clear. Thanks for that.
OPERATOR
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