Employee Related Benefits

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Employee Related Benefits [Abstract]

EMPLOYEE RELATED BENEFITS

NOTE ##PensionNote EMPLOYEE RELATED BENEFITS
			At December 31,
			2011		2010
	Current:
		Accrued payroll and withholding taxes	$	204	$	189
		Peruvian workers’ participation		42		49
		Employee pension benefits		5		6
		Other post-retirement plans		3		3
		Accrued severance		3		2
		Other employee-related payables		50		39
			$	307	$	288
			At December 31,
			2011		2010
	Long-term:
		Employee pension benefits	$	227	$	127
		Other post-retirement benefit plans		104		92
		Accrued severance		96		73
		Peruvian workers’ participation		17		18
		Other employee-related payables		15		15
			$	459	$	325

Pension and Other Benefit Plans

The Company provides defined benefit pension plans to eligible employees. Benefits are generally based on years of service and the employee's average annual compensation. Various international pension plans are based on local laws and requirements. Pension costs are determined annually by independent actuaries and pension contributions to the qualified plans are made based on funding standards established under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.

The Company sponsors retiree health care plans that provide prescription drug benefits to eligible retirees that our plans' actuaries have determined are actuarially equivalent to Medicare Part D.In 2010, Congress passed certain measures of healthcare reform which changed the tax-free status of Medicare Part D subsidies and eliminated the impact on the post-retirement ABO.

The following tables provide a reconciliation of changes in the plans' benefit obligations and assets' fair values for 2011 and 2010:

		Pension Benefits				Other Benefits
		2011		2010		2011		2010
Change in Benefit Obligation:
	Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	681	$	580	$	95	$	95
	Service cost		25		21		2		2
	Interest cost		39		36		5		6
	Actuarial (gain) loss		66		68		7		(6)
	Amendments		-		2		-		-
	Foreign currency exchange loss		-		2		-		-
	Settlement payments		(14)		(1)		-		-
	Benefits paid		(25)		(27)		(2)		(2)
	Projected benefit obligation at end of year	$	772	$	681		N/A		N/A
Accumulated Benefit Obligation		$	554	$	543	$	107	$	95
Change in Fair Value of Assets:
	Fair value of assets at beginning of year	$	559	$	372	$	-	$	-
	Actual return on plan assets		(7)		53		-		-
	Employer contributions		27		161		2		2
	Foreign currency exchange gain		-		1		-		-
	Settlement payments		(14)		(1)		-		-
	Benefits paid		(25)		(27)		(2)		(2)
	Fair value of assets at end of year	$	540	$	559	$	-	$	-
	Unfunded status, net	$	232	$	122	$	107	$	95

The Company's qualified pension plans are funded with cash contributions in compliance with Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) rules and regulations. The Company's non-qualified and other benefit plans are currently not funded, but exist as general corporate obligations. The information contained in the above tables presents the combined funded status of qualified and non-qualified plans. The Company is currently planning to contribute at least $35 to its retirement benefit programs in 2012.

The following table provides the net amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31:

		Pension Benefits				Other Benefits
		2011		2010		2011		2010
Accrued employee benefit liability		$	232	$	122	$	107	$	95
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss):
	Net actuarial gain (loss)	$	(349)	$	(263)	$	6	$	12
	Prior service credit (cost)		(7)		(8)		4		5
			(356)		(271)		10		17
	Less: Income taxes		125		95		(4)		(6)
		$	(231)	$	(176)	$	6	$	11

The following table provides components of the net periodic pension and other benefits costs for the years ended December 31:

	Pension Benefit Costs						Other Benefit Costs
	2011		2010		2009		2011		2010		2009
Service cost	$	25	$	21	$	18	$	2	$	2	$	2
Interest cost		39		36		32		5		6		5
Expected return on plan assets		(42)		(32)		(29)		-		-		-
Amortization, net		26		17		16		(1)		(1)		(1)
	$	48	$	42	$	37	$	6	$	7	$	6

The following table provides the components recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss) for the years ended December 31:

		Pension Benefits						Other Benefits
		2011		2010		2009		2011		2010		2009
Net gain (loss)		$	(111)	$	(41)	$	7	$	(6)	$	5	$	(1)
Amortization, net			26		17		16		(1)		(1)		(1)
	Total recognized in Other comprehensive income (loss)	$	(85)	$	(24)	$	23	$	(7)	$	4	$	(2)
	Total recognized in net periodic benefit cost and Other comprehensive income (loss)	$	(133)	$	(66)	$	(14)	$	(13)	$	(3)	$	(7)

The expected recognition of amounts in Accumulated other comprehensive income is $25and $1 for net actuarial loss and prior service cost for pension benefits in 2012, respectively, and $nil and $1 for net actuarial gain and prior service credit for other benefits in 2012, respectively.

Significant assumptions were as follows:
			Pension Benefits				Other Benefits
			At December 31,				At December 31,
			2011		2010		2011		2010
	Weighted-average assumptions used in measuring the Company’s benefit obligation:
		Discount rate	5.35	%	5.75	%	5.35	%	5.75	%
		Rate of compensation increase	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%

		Pension Benefits						Other Benefits
		Years Ended December 31,						Years Ended December 31,
		2011		2010		2009		2011		2010		2009
Weighted-average assumptions used in measuring the net periodic pension benefit cost:
	Discount long-term rate	5.75	%	6.10	%	6.05	%	5.75	%	6.10	%	6.05	%
	Expected return on plan assets	8.00	%	8.00	%	8.00	%	N/A		N/A		N/A
	Rate of compensation increase	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%

Yield curves matching our benefit obligations were derived using a model based on high quality corporate bond data from Bloomberg.The model develops a discount rate by selecting a portfolio of high quality corporate bonds whose projected cash flows match the projected benefit payments of the plan.The resulting curves were used to identify a discount rate for the Company of 5.35% and 5.75% at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, based on the timing of future benefit payments. The decision to use 8% as the expected long-term return on plan assets for the three years ended December 2011 was made based on an analysis of the actual plan asset returns over multiple time horizons and other comparable U.S. corporations. At December 31, 2011, Newmont decreased the expected long term return on plan assets to 7.75% in estimating its benefit obligation, which will be used in determining future net periodic benefit cost.The decrease in the rate is a result of considering the most recent capital market forecasts and the plans' current allocation as well as the actual return on plan assets underperforming as compared to the expected return on assets in the last 5 years. The average actual return on plan assets during the 23 years ended December 31, 2011 approximated 8%.

The pension plans employ several independent investment firms which invest the assets of the plans in certain approved funds that correspond to specific asset classes with associated target allocations. The goal of the pension fund investment program is to achieve prudent actuarial funding ratios while maintaining acceptable risk levels. The investment performance of the plans and that of the individual investment firms is measured against recognized market indices. The performance of the pension fundsare monitored by an investment committee comprised of members of the Company's management, which is advised by an independent investment consultant. With the exception of global capital market economic risks, the Company has identified no significant portfolio risks associated to asset classes. The following is a summary of the target asset allocations for 2011 and the actual asset allocation at December 31, 2011.

			Actual at
			December 31,
Asset Allocation	Target		2011
U.S. equity investments	33	%	35	%
International equity investments	24	%	24	%
Fixed income investments	35	%	33	%
Other	8	%	8	%

The following table sets forth the Company's pension plan assets measured at fair value by level within the fair value hierarchy. Assets are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

		Fair Value at December 31, 2011
		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Plan Assets:
	Cash and cash equivalents	$	1	$	-	$	-	$	1
	Commingled funds		-		539		-		539
		$	1	$	539	$	-	$	540
		Fair Value at December 31, 2010
		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Plan Assets:
	Cash and cash equivalents	$	2	$	-	$	-	$	2
	Commingled funds		-		557		-		557
		$	2	$	557	$	-	$	559

The pension plans' cash and cash equivalents are classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using quoted market prices. The cash equivalent instruments that are valued based on quoted market prices in active markets are primarily money market securities and U.S. Treasury securities.

The pension plans' commingled fund investments are classified within Level 2. The funds are managed by several fund managers and are valued at the net asset value per share for each fund. Although the majority of underlying assets in the funds consist of actively traded equity securities and bonds, the unit of account is considered to be at the fund level, and therefore, the investments are classified as Level 2. At December 31, 2011, the underlying assets of the commingled funds consist of U.S. equity investments (35%), international equity investments (24%), fixed income investments (33%), and other investments (8%).

The assumed health care cost trend rate to measure the expected cost of benefits was 8.00% for 2012, 7.50% for 2013, 7.00% for 2014, 6.50% for 2015,6.00% for 2016 and approximately 5.00% for each year thereafter. Assumed health care cost trend rates have a significant effect on amounts reported for the health care plans. A one-percentage-point change in assumed health care cost trend rates would have the following effects:

	One-percentage-point		One-percentage-point
	Increase		Decrease
Effect on total of service and interest cost components of net periodic post-retirement health care benefit cost	$	1	$	(1)
Effect on the health care component of the accumulated post-retirement benefit obligation	$	17	$	(14)

Cash Flows

Benefit payments expected to be paid are as follows: $25 in 2012, $27 in 2013, $33 in 2014, $40 in 2015, $37 in 2016, and $268 in total over the five years from 2017 through 2021. Benefit payments made to other benefit plan participants are expected to be as follows: $4 in 2012, $4 in 2013, $4 in 2014, $5 in 2015, $5 in 2016, and $32 in total over the five years from 2017 through 2021.

Savings Plans

The Company has two qualified defined contribution savings plans, one that covers salaried and non-union hourly employees and one that covers substantially all hourly union employees. In addition, the Company has one non-qualified supplemental savings plan for salaried employees whose benefits under the qualified plan are limited by federal regulations. When an employee meets eligibility requirements, the Company matches 100% of employee contributions of up to 6% of base salary for the salaried and hourly union plans. The Company makes a contribution between 5.0% and 7.5% (based on continuous years of service) to each non-union hourly employee's retirement contribution account at its sole discretion. Matching contributions are made with Newmont stock; however, no holding restrictions are placed on such contributions, which totaled $17 in 2011, $15in 2010, and $15 in 2009.