It’s a great problem to have. It’s an embracement of riches in terms of the projects that line up to complete the capital behind the 4 projects we have in execution. So Wafi-Golpu is going to be a really, really important mine to contribute to the world’s need for copper over the next several decades. So — but you need to have the appropriate investment environment, you then will need to go back in and do the appropriate level of drilling and study work to understand ultimately what the cost of returns will be. Wafi-Golpu and Red Chris are both block cave mines. We’ve got that technology in our portfolio. We’ve got that capability in our portfolio. The block cave mines to invest all of the capital on front before you get a return. So its pretty important that you understand the ore body and you understand the development costs before you [indiscernible].
So that’s going to be an important part of Red Chris and Wafi-Golpu for new mine as we make a decision about which projects follow Tanami 2, Ahafo North the 2 block caves at Cadia.
Operator: Our next question today is from the line of Greg Barnes of TD Securities.
Greg Barnes: Yes. Thank you. Just on the dividend, returning to that again, I understand, obviously, your base dividend and the share buyback program. But as you bring costs down and production up, do you see yourself transitioning to a dividend policy, there’s more progressive, i.e. you raised the dividend year after year, which some of your peers who have been more success on this front, that’s the approach they’ve taken. Is that where you see this going?
Thomas Palmer: Greg, I think about how to model [indiscernible] returns. I’d put a fixed $1 a share dividend in the model and just run it forward. Any additional cash that we generate over and once we set the parameters on cash debt, were likely that variable component is likely to come through share buybacks. Just then through a major transaction, we have increased our share count and we would look to bring that share count back down again. So for the foreseeable future, bank on $1 share dividend and any variable components of share buyback.
Operator: Our next question today is from the line of Carey MacRury of Canaccord.
Carey MacRury: Just a question on the balance sheet, the $5 billion of net debt target. Are there debt metrics you’re specifically targeting behind that?
Karyn Ovelmen: Yes. Essentially, our goal is always to have a financial flexibility on balance sheet and to maintain our investment-grade rating that we currently have today. So that is absolute [indiscernible] yes, in terms of the main metric, looking at a 1x net debt EBITDA ratio as we go forward.
Carey MacRury: That’s helpful. And then maybe one other question, if I can. During the transaction, as you guys talked about the potential in the Golden Triangle area, no plan set out here, but can you talk a little bit about how you see that? How that region evolves over the next few years?
Thomas Palmer: Yes. Thanks, Carey. Just a little bit so I’m pretty sure I heard to say how do we set the gold trial opening up over the next few years. That’s just — I actually have a couple of trips up there sadly over the last couple of months. Real potential at Brucejack to get a really solid understanding of that ore body in life and they have a contributing nice cash for quite some time to come from a nice ore body and exploration potential around that Valley of the Kings area. So a really nice, really nice gold opportunity there. As you then swing across Red Chris really important — that spending some time in the call shot at Red Chris and again to appreciate the size and quality of that ore body. It is going to be an amazing block cave mine.
So it’s really going to be about ensuring that we work to understand how to build that mine to a high-quality, understand the cost, I understand the schedule, understand the various approvals to come with that and develop that line because that line will run for decades. The original can then the other opportunities around them. So that is going to be a real focus in terms of copper in that investment. And then we bridge off that up to the Galore Creek and the work we’ll do with tech to go off. We increased [indiscernible] Creek and then ultimately develop Galore Creek as another great copper mines. So that it will be [indiscernible] potential the condition for both [indiscernible] underground that we really opened up the decades of Red Chris and then pivot off that into Galore Creek.
Natascha, did you want to…
Natascha Viljoen: No, I think that [indiscernible].
Operator: Our next question today is from the line of Tanya Jakusconek of Scotiabank.
Tanya Jakusconek: Great. Just wanted to come back to just a lot of information has come out today, and I’m sort of looking out to what else is coming out above and beyond what you put out? It looks like at your Investor Day, you mentioned new life of mine plans. We’ve got some Cadia news, Block Cadia news coming out in the second half of the year. Am I to assume that all of the reserves, Tom, are now done to your standard on the Newcrest assets, the life of mine plans are just going to be based on these new reserves? And will we get more information than just the chart that you’ve put out on the 2 charts on the 5-year production and cost for your Tier 1 assets? What are we getting beyond the [indiscernible] at this Investor Day?
Thomas Palmer: The reserves and resources are set to Newmont standard. I’m looking across the road [indiscernible] he’s breathing aside relief because he saw a significant lift from November 6 to a few weeks ago to get that through our processes. So that’s [indiscernible] new outstanding. And you’re right, what we’re doing now is doing the — so [indiscernible], is great Head of our Mineral Resource Management Group is now running strategic mine plans and life of mine plans on top of those reserve resource statements to build out potential of that got forward portfolio on top of that 5-year outlook. We’ll work that over the course — over the months ahead. We’ve got an important strategy day with our Board in June. Our Annual Strategy Day is always in June and we’ll spend some time with our Board looking at that longer-term potential, debating that and understanding that to then build towards an Investor Day in the second half.
We will start to show you and share with you a picture beyond the 5 years what we see is the potential for this Newmont upgraded portfolio over the next 5, 10, 15, 20-plus years. We’re still debating the time frame for that, but the current thinking is we refer to our normal time frame, which is typically leading around that November time frame that we have our Capital Markets Day and also talking about doing one in New York and one in Australia, so we pick up both sides of our markets. But that’s the work in front of us this year is to really get after the strategic lifeline plan. So we give you that — with confidence to give you that longer-term story for this portfolio.
Tanya Jakusconek: Okay. So what I’m understanding from you is that we are going to get above and beyond just the 5 years that you’ve provided for us here, so we would have a visibility for maybe 10 years plus in your Investor Day?
Thomas Palmer: That’s correct, Tanya.
Tanya Jakusconek: Okay. And then my second question, I just wanted to understand, I think, Tom, you mentioned that your certain that our 6 operating assets are going to be sold the noncore one in 2024. Does that mean that we are going to be seeing your financials going forward of having discontinued assets from Q1 onwards on all of these 6 assets?
Unidentified Company Representative: Tanya, the expectation is at the end of the first quarter, 2024, that these 6 assets will be held as assets held for sale.
Tanya Jakusconek: Okay. All right. So then you’re reporting on your operating assets and the other ones will change a little bit as we look at what you’re reporting on production costs, et cetera?
Unidentified Company Representative: Correct.
Operator: This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Tom Palmer for some closing remarks.
Thomas Palmer: Thanks, operator, and thank you all for your time, and I look forward to catching up with you soon. Thanks, everyone.
Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.
