Press Release: Newmont responds to arsenic issue

Jakarta, 2004-11-09 -- In response to some press reports about arsenic in Buyat Bay sediment, Newmont has the following comment from Dave Baker, Sr. Vice President for Environmental Management:

?Because of the mineralogy of the ore body, elevated levels of arsenic were expected in the tailings solids and were regularly measured and reported in quarterly monitoring reports to the Government of Indonesia. The tailings system was designed so that the arsenic would be in a safe chemically stable form that is locked into the sediment and not released into the environment. The system has worked as designed and is confirmed by multiple previous scientific studies as well as 8 years of PT NMR monitoring data that show arsenic concentrations in seawater to be well below Indonesian and international seawater standards.?

?Further, all scientific studies and PTNMR?s monitoring data have shown that fish tissue contain normal levels of arsenic as compared to both applicable standards and fish from any other area of the world. This adds further confirmation that arsenic from the tailings is not being released from the sediment or assimilated into the food chain,? said Dave Baker.

?We believe that the sampling results contained in the Government Integrated Team Report, when released, will confirm these facts,? he said. (end of release)