NQM seeks Pajingo from Newmont

Australian gold mining firm North Queensland Metals (NQM) is in talks to purchase a key gold mine in its home state from US firm Newmont Mining.

NQM's shares were sent soaring 11 per cent higher on news of the potential buy, with the base metals explorer seeing its share values doubled in the past year.

The Pajingo mine started producing gold in 1996 under its first owners Normandy Mining, with the site since yielding more than 2.3 million ounces of gold – a promising figure for NQM to add to.

NQM said: "The Pajingo project no longer meets Newmont's strategic requirements.

"There can be, however, no guarantee that agreement will be reached on the acquisition or the timeframe for completion of those negotiations."

With negotiations set to take some time, the gold market will be hungry to snap up new metal once the Pajingo project is maximised under NQM – with demand currently outstripping supply for gold and keeping prices high.