Newmont reports $1,454 an ounce all-in cost on $4,317 gold
Its third-quarter all-in sustaining cost fell from $1,621 in the second quarter but rose from $1,303 a year earlier. Newmont improved its full-year cost guidance to $1,520 an ounce.
By Carat Capital
What changed
Costs fell on the quarter. Newmont's all-in sustaining cost fell 10% to $1,454 an ounce in the third quarter. Its realised gold price slipped to $4,317 from $4,414 in the second quarter.
What it means
- If you model miners against spot: Spot gold sat at $4,020.90 at 05:01 EDT, 6.9% under Newmont's third-quarter realised price.
- If you track cost inflation: All-in cost is 11.6% above a year earlier, on 8.5% fewer ounces.
- What this is not: A profit margin. All-in sustaining cost leaves out growth capital and tax.
Key figures
| All-in sustaining costby-product, Q3 2026 | $1,454/oz |
|---|---|
| Realised golddown $97 on Q2 | $4,317/oz |
| Attributable goldflat on Q2 | 1.30 Moz |
| Free cash flowQ3, company measure | $1.9bn |
Source: Newmont Q3 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), 22 October 2026. Spot gold: Carat Capital tape, Kitco bid, 05:01 EDT 23 October 2026.
Volumes and Cadia lowered costs
Two steps down. Costs applicable to sales fell 20% to $832 an ounce on higher gold and co-product volumes and copper prices. Lower other expense, mostly second-quarter Cadia costs, did the rest.
Guidance improved. It improved full-year guidance to $925 an ounce for costs applicable to sales and $1,520 for all-in sustaining cost.
Fourth quarter rises. Newmont guides fourth-quarter all-in cost to $1,900 an ounce, plus or minus 5%. It cites higher sustaining capital and lower co-product volume.
| Measure | Q3 2025 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Realised gold, $/oz | 3,539 | 4,414 | 4,317 |
| All-in sustaining cost, $/oz | 1,303 | 1,621 | 1,454 |
| Costs applicable to sales, $/oz | 831 | 1,043 | 832 |
| Attributable gold, Moz | 1.42 | 1.29 | 1.30 |
| Free cash flow, $m | 1,571 | 2,205 | 1,912 |
Carat Capital's arithmetic: 1454/1621 = 0.897, 10.3% lower; 1454/1303 = 1.116, 11.6% higher; 4317/3539 = 1.220, 22.0% higher; 1.30/1.42 = 0.915, 8.5% lower. 4317 - 1454 = $2,863 an ounce, not a company measure.
The gold price slipped
Lower than Q2. The $4,317 realised price is $97 below the second quarter, Newmont says. It is below the nine-month average of $4,546.
Spot is lower still. The tape's 05:01 EDT gold bid of $4,020.90 is 6.9% under the quarter's realised price, on Carat Capital's division.
Cash went back out
Returns matched cash. Free cash flow was $1.9 billion. Newmont says it returned $1.9 billion through dividends and buybacks since its last earnings call.
Net income rose. Reported net income was $2.5 billion, against $2.2 billion in the second quarter. Newmont declared a dividend of $0.26 a share.
What to watch
- Fourth quarterWhether all-in cost lands near Newmont's $1,900 guide, against $1,454 in the third quarter.
- 21 DecemberThe $0.26 dividend is paid to holders of record on 25 November.
- Early 2027Newmont's full-funds decision on the Red Chris block cave.
Go deeper
Corrections
Correction, 24 October 2026: this article left out Newmont's own fourth-quarter guide of $1,900 an ounce all-in sustaining cost, printed in the same release. Its watch line asked whether cost would move to the $1,520 full-year guide, which is a full-year average, and its test of the call treated a fourth quarter above $1,600 as a reversal, when Newmont guides to one. Both now use the $1,900 guide. The cost section also said Cadia drove the fall; Newmont says costs applicable to sales fell 20% on volumes and copper prices, and lower other expense, mostly Cadia, explains the rest. What was right as published: every figure printed. Found by Carat Capital's standards desk on 23 October 2026.
What would change this call
A fourth quarter well below the $1,900 guide. Then the third quarter's lower cost is holding rather than reversing.
How all-in sustaining cost is built
All-in sustaining cost adds sustaining capital, overheads and other sustaining costs to the cost of mining and processing an ounce. By-product treatment credits copper, silver and other metal sales against gold. It excludes growth projects, interest and tax. Newmont reports it as a non-GAAP measure.
Method
Newmont Q3 2026 earnings release, Exhibit 99.1, dated 'October 22, 2026' in its dateline, read on SEC EDGAR with an identifying header, fetched 23 October 2026, 200, 2,474,421 bytes, text extracted by script. Read in the release text: '$832 per ounce', '$1,454 per ounce', '$925 and $1,520 per ounce', 'a decrease of $97 per ounce from the prior quarter', '$1.9 billion of free cash flow', '$0.26', 'December 21, 2026', 'November 25, 2026', 'decreased 10 percent to $1,454'. Table rows from the summary of results: realised gold '$ 3,539' (Q3 2025), '$ 4,414' (Q2), '$ 4,317' (Q3), '$ 4,546' (year to date); by-product AISC '$ 1,303', '$ 1,621', '$ 1,454'; CAS '$ 831', '$ 1,043', '$ 832'; production '1.42', '1.29', '1.30'; free cash flow '$ 1,571', '$ 2,205', '$ 1,912'; net income '$ 2,202', '$ 2,475'. Spot is the paper's 05:00 tape mark, Kitco bid 4020.9 at 05:01 EDT 23 October, two-page checked against CNBC 4,022.53; 4020.9/4317 = 0.9314, 6.9% under. The quarterly average and a single morning's bid are different measures and the comparison is labelled. ARCHIVE: Carat Capital's archive, 'Newmont' 0 rows. NEW. Re-read 24 October 2026 for the correction below, same release as saved by the Bureau, 200, 2,474,411 bytes: guidance table 'Gold By-Product AISC ($/oz) (2) $1,520 $1,900' under the columns 2026E and Q4 2026E (±5%), and the sentence 'unit costs are expected to increase in the fourth quarter primarily due to higher sustaining capital spend, as well as lower co-product volumes'. CAS: 'decreased 20 percent to $832 for the quarter primarily driven by higher gold and co-product volumes, as well as higher realized copper pricing'. AISC: 'Building from CAS per ounce, the decrease was primarily due to lower other expense, primarily related to incremental costs incurred at Cadia in the second quarter'.
Sources
- Newmont, Third Quarter 2026 Results, Exhibit 99.1 (SEC EDGAR) 22 October 2026