Newmont halts Cadia gold mine after earthquake

Shares in Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) fell more than 4% in early New York trading on Wednesday after the company suspended underground operations at its Cadia gold mine in Australia following a 4.5-magnitude earthquake in New South Wales.

The company said the quake, classified as light to moderate seismic activity, was followed by two aftershocks late on April 14 and into Wednesday morning. Newmont said all underground workers were accounted for and returned to surface, with no injuries reported.

The miner's shares were last trading at $114.09, down 4.4% from Tuesday’s close, giving the company a market capitalization of about $125 billion.

Specialist teams are inspecting and assessing Cadia’s underground infrastructure before management decides when to resume operations.

Cadia is one of Australia’s largest gold and copper operations, so any prolonged disruption could weigh on output from one of Newmont’s key assets.