http://www.theage.com.au/business
A $US35 billion ($37.6 billion) merger of global goldmining companies Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold may not be dead, after the chief executive of Newmont told an audience in Melbourne that he would not “close the door” on a future deal.
The two North American gold companies conducted merger talks earlier this year but the deal fell over in April amid reports they had disagreed over how to handle their respective Australian assets.
While neither company is listed in Australia, a merged entity would wholly own the nation’s biggest goldmine, Boddington, and the nation’s second-biggest goldmine, Kalgoorlie’s Super Pit, as well as other smaller assets.
When asked if he had shut the door on the proposed deal, Mr Goldberg indicated a revival of the deal was not impossible.
“I wouldn’t shut the door on it – we are focusing on running our business as effectively and efficiently as we can going forward and we will see what happens,” he said.
“Clearly we overlap and we work together, [the Super Pit] is an example, and we have a joint venture in Nevada and I wouldn’t close the door on it at all.” But he said he had not heard from Barrick since April.
During a presentation to the Melbourne Mining Club on Thursday, Mr Goldberg said the deal had failed because there were not enough “redundancies” between the two companies.
He later clarified that the word “redundancies” was not a reference to job cuts but “commonalities” in the business culture of the two entities.
Newmont is one of several goldminers that are urging the West Australian government to avoid any further rise to the royalty rate on gold production and Mr Goldberg said he would personally visit WA Premier Colin Barnett on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
“Our industry I think does pay a fair share, both in terms of the formal taxes but also some of the things we bring back to the community,” he said.
When asked if either the Super Pit or Boddington would be vulnerable under higher gold royalties, Mr Goldberg said; ”For either one of those, it would present challenges to our effort in cost structure. We are doing a lot of work to improve the efficiency and effectiveness and cost structure of those.
“Any additional burden, especially one we really don’t have any control over, wouldn’t be good.”
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