Nemont history

Upon selling stock in a copper mine he had bought on installments, Thompson arrived around 1905 on Wall Street where he became a successful trader, making gains in several industries, including oil, steel, and minerals.

Newmont was founded in 1921 as Newmont Corporation by Colonel William Boyce Thompson as a type of holding company for his varied financial interests.

The Malozemoff family eventually landed in San Francisco, where Plato earned a degree in mining engineering at Berkeley in 1931.

By 1940, Newmont existed as an interesting hybrid of holding company and operating company.

By 1950, Newmont was led by Fred Searls who, like Thompson, was a recognizable figure on Wall Street.

In 1951, John Drybrough, president of the Newmont Mining Corporation of Canada subsidiary, informed Newmont officials that a company run by his brother-in-law had discovered nickel deposits in Manitoba, as well as a new, more efficient method for processing the ore.

Plato Malozemoff became Newmont's president in 1954.

In 1955, a particularly active year, investments were also made in the Philippines, Canada, and Algeria.

In 1957, Empire Star Mines Company, Ltd., was merged into Newmont.

In 1959, $8.2 million of the company's $13 million dividend income came from foreign holdings, primarily the mines of Tsumeb and O'okiep.

Newmont took action to remedy this imbalance in 1962 by trading some of its own preferred stock for a large block of stock in Magma Copper.

Most of this was in the United States, largely due to the 1965 opening of the company's new mine at Carlin, Nevada.

In 1966, 12 tons of overburden had to be removed and 3 tons of ore milled to retrieve an ounce of gold at Carlin.

With earnings of over $26 million at the time of the merger, Magma was the fourth-largest domestic copper producer, and by 1970 about three-fourths of Newmont's revenue came from copper.

The expansion raised the combined output of San Manuel and Superior to 145,000 tons of copper in 1972.

In 1974, Newmont set a net earnings record of $113.6 million.

By 1976 the office was bursting at the seams and a new headquarters building was constructed at the present location.

In fact, Newmont earned more from gold in 1979 than it had from all its operations the year before.

In 1980, Newmont began processing gold ore from its Maggie Creek mine, 14 miles south of the main area of the Carlin operation.

Newmont purchased the Miami, Arizona, copper operations of City Service Company in 1983.

Carlin Gold Mining Company's name was changed to Newmont Gold Company in 1986.

With the 1990 sale of its 55 percent interest in Peabody, Newmont had shed virtually all of its non-gold holdings and was the largest gold producer in North America.

In 1992, Newmont continued to actively explore for gold, both in North America and abroad.

In 1995 Sagebrush Cellular, Inc. (Sagebrush) was acquired and expanded cellular service in Northeast Montana.

Nemont, along with several other Montana telephone cooperatives, started Vision Net in 1996.