Newmont and Sumitomo complete 7% share sale of Indonesian unit

US mining giant Newmont Mining Corporation announced Friday that its subsidiary, Newmont Indonesia Limited (NIL), together with Nusa Tenggara Mining Corporation (NTMC) (an affiliate of Sumitomo Corporation), completed the sale of the 7% of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PTNNT) for the 2008 divestiture to PT Multi Daerah Bersaing (PTMDB), a consortium comprised of regional and local governments near the Batu Hijau mine, and PT Multicapital, a private company.

Upon completion of the sale earlier on Friday, Newmont received approximately US$139 million, reflecting its 56.25% portion of the $247 million sale price.

This is in addition to $220 million in proceeds for Newmont from the 10% PTNNT share sale concluded on November 16, 2009.

A PTNNT shareholder meeting will be held following close of the 2008 shares to approve the transfer of the 7% shares for 2009.

In addition, the shareholder meeting will approve the Mine Operator Agreement previously signed between NIL, NTMC and PTMDB, consider and approve a name change for PTNNT and increase the size of the Board of Directors.

Newmont anticipates the shareholder meeting to occur during the second week of January 2010. With the close of the 2008 share transfer, Newmont?s ownership in Batu has been reduced from 39.375% to 35.44%. (bernard)