It said yesterday it had executed a US$3 billion sustainability-linked revolving credit facility, which would incur positive or negative pricing adjustments on drawn balances based on certain sustainability performance criteria.

Newmont's news follows Russia miner Nordgold this week teeing up a $100 million ESG-linked revolving credit facility for its subsidiary Celtic Resources Holdings.

Newmont said its new credit facility expired in March 2026, amending and extending the credit facility executed in 2019, and included overall improved pricing.

The company believed strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance was a key indicator of a well-managed business, president and CEO Tom Palmer said.

"By aligning our financial performance and our ESG performance, we are holding ourselves accountable to delivering on our purpose to create value and improve lives through responsible and sustainable mining," he said.

ESG mining finance is in its infancy and a key challenge is the absence of a uniform or codified set of behaviours which companies are assessed against, Mining Journal reported last year. 

Newmont said its sustainability performance was measured through independent ratings published by MSCI and S&P Global, global leaders in ESG and corporate governance research and ratings.

Nordgold said the margin under its loan was directly linked to the company's EcoVadis ESG rating.

Newmont shares closed down 3.7% in New York as the gold price slid below $1,700/oz.

The miner is valued about $48 billion.