Strike at Mexico gold mine costs Newmont $3.7 million a day

The operator of Mexico’s largest gold mine says it is losing millions of dollars a day on a strike that has dragged on for months.

Newmont Corp., the world’s largest bullion producer, pegged the financial impact of the dispute at its Penasquito mine at approximately $1 million a day in maintenance costs and $2.7 million a day in lost revenue in a statement posted to the mine’s Facebook page Monday.

As a result, the mine will not turn a profit this year, the Denver-based company said.

The Penasquito mine shuttered in early June when about 2,000 unionized workers stopped work over a profit-sharing agreement and alleged contract breaches. The company has since declared force majeure on products. Top executives, including chief executive officer Tom Palmer, visited Mexico in August to meet with government officials to lobby for a resolution.

Penasquito, in Zacatecas in the center-north region of Mexico, is a major supplier of gold, silver, zinc and lead. The strike marks the third labor dispute since Newmont bought Penasquito from Goldcorp Inc. in 2019. It brought in $2.8 billion in sales in 2022.

(By Jacob Lorinc)