"Meanwhile, O'Brien reaffirmed that the company intends to sell nearly all of its merchant banking business, including its gold royalty portfolio. "We are going to operate gold mines," instead of collecting gold mine royalties, he explained. Nonetheless, O'Brien said Newmont will continue to look into junior companies that will eventually give Newmont operating gold exposure.

Newmont is also changing its overall planning system from 12-month to three-year plans. The company aims to look at operations as an overall portfolio rather than specifically key in on regions."