The head of Newmont Corporation, the world’s biggest gold producer, has said the costs of cutting emissions and going green will drive a further wave of consolidation in the industry.
Tom Palmer, chief executive of the only gold miner in the S&P 500 index, said the investments needed to reduce emissions — from electric trucks to renewable energy — required scale and long-life mines.
“One of the challenges for the gold industry is the number of gold companies,” Palmer told the FT Mining Summit. He noted that there were significantly more gold companies than in other mining sectors. “So I think the industry needs to consolidate and I think the catalyst will be climate change.”