The gold mining operation at Carlin is the largest in the world, with a massive ore body that has yielded millions of ounces of gold over its more than 60-year history in northeastern Nevada.
Up until recent history, the Carlin Trend was mainly divided between two senior gold mining companies — Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Corp. On the surface, that meant fences separated properties. Underground, boundaries took the form of vertical walls.
Practically, neither company had a full understanding of how the ore body behaves from beginning to end. Sometimes the same geologic feature had different names depending on what side of the line it fell on.
Operationally, miners sometimes had to employ less efficient mining methods so as not to interfere with the other company’s schedule or border. But in 2019, Barrick formed a joint venture with Newmont, taking 61.3 percent ownership of the Nevada gold mining assets and leaving Newmont with 38.5 percent.
The massive and complex ore body on the Carlin Trend now falls under a massive and complex company. Barrick Gold’s Nevada portfolio includes Carlin, Cortez Hills, Turquoise Ridge, Phoenix and Long Canyon, with Carlin and Cortez being the first- and seventh-largest producing gold mines in the world.
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