Newmont to Explore Much More - 3 October, 2002

Newmont Mining Corp. plans to increase exploration budget by $12 million in 2003 from $73 million this year

Next year's projected figure represents in part work that will be done on two mines Newmont acquired when it bought Normandy this year and which it had expected to sell as a non-core asset.

But now Newmont sees potential at the Ovacik operation in Turkey and wants to study it further. It might take up to 18 months to make a decision.

After conducting deeper drilling at the Yamfo-Sefwi project in Ghana, the company decided to wait before unloading it.

Some areas at the company's Carlin trend in Nevada were recently resampled for the first time in 10 to 15 years and with today's better technology some areas look prospective.

The company expects to have sold almost $400 million by the end of this year of non-core assets, helping the company to reduce its debt.