Goldberg is one of the leading mining executives interviewed for the "Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation" being published next month.

He said shareholders were investing more responsibly and demanding accountability - or simply not investing in businesses that did not meet their standards.

Accordingly, Goldberg said miners needed to demonstrate a more consistent standard and promote it.

"Quite frankly, everyone needs to be held to account on this," he said.

"Shareholders and local communities will ultimately be the ones who hold industry to account because, if we can't convince these groups, new projects won't go ahead."

Goldberg, 59, was appointed president and CEO of the gold major in March 2013.

This is based on an interview with Newmont Mining president and CEO Gary Goldberg as part of the ‘Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation', which will be published in late June. The report features around 20 in-depth interviews with the industry's leading mining executives and the results of our industry-wide survey focused on transformational influences (technology, stakeholder engagement etc) and the readiness of mining leaders to meet these challenges.