Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. have agreed to team up in a joint venture in Nevada that will see Barrick drop its hostile bid for its biggest rival and unite the world’s two biggest gold miners in one of the richest goldfields on the planet.
The accord means Colorado-based Newmont is far more likely to succeed in its efforts to buy Goldcorp Inc. and bypass Barrick as the world’s biggest gold company. Barrick’s pursuit of Newmont had threatened to derail the US$10-billion deal that was announced in January.
The Barrick-Newmont ownership split announced on Monday will be 61.5 per cent in favour of Barrick with the Toronto-based miner also named as the operator. The agreement will see gigantic mines, including Barrick’s Goldstrike and Cortez operations, along with Newmont’s Carlin, unite under one roof.
Barrick and Newmont finally strike a deal, but it won’t move the needle much.
It’s amazing what just talking it out can achieve. After a parade of insults, suspect numbers and pitch decks, Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. have agreed to a deal.
It isn’t the deal Barrick originally pushed for; namely, a hostile full takeover of its rival. Instead, they will holster their Excel models and form a partnership in the one asset anyone really cares about: their Nevada mining operations.
On balance, it looks as if Barrick got most of what it wanted. It will run the Nevada joint venture and control three of the five board seats governing it. Ownership of 61.5 percent reflects Barrick’s much bigger resource base in the region (as my colleague David Fickling laid out here), with Newmont giving ground on its earlier proposal of a 55/45 split.
One of the most prominent names in the mining industry is blasting the mere possibility of Barrick Gold Corp., calling its potential hostile takeover bid for Newmont Mining Corp. “stupid.”
“Someone is having fun with the press,” said Pierre Lassonde, chairman of Franco-Nevada Corp. (), in an emailed statement to BNN Bloomberg. “A hostile bid in this environment is stupid. [Barrick’s] stock would get crushed.”
Barrick () confirmed in a short press release Friday morning that it has “reviewed the opportunity” to merge with Newmont () in what the company said would be an all-stock, no premium offer. Barrick added it hasn’t decided how it will proceed.
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Nevada is like the Witwatersrand of the 1970s, says new Barrick Gold president and CEO Dr Mark Bristow, whose Randgold Resources is now merged into Barrick to form the world’s biggest gold mining company, which is also an extractor of copper, a metal that Bristow sees as “another gold”.
The brand new Goldrush-Fourmile discovery, which extends the footprint within Cortez district in Nevada in the US, is already at 12-million ounces at over 10 g/t.
“I reckon that will go over 20-million ounces and that’s an 8-km-long deposit,” South African-born Bristow tells Mining Weekly Online. And then there is Turquoise Ridge, which is the richest gold mine in the world at 15 g/t.
The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by the late Maurice R. Brown, former editor and publisher of The Northern Miner, as a way to recognize and honour the legendary mine finders and builders of a great Canadian industry. The Hall was established in 1988. For more information about the extraordinary individuals who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, please go to their home website: http://mininghalloffame.ca/
The greatest discoveries are transformative, and Brian Meikle is one of only a few modern-era geologists who achieved this pinnacle of success. In the 1960s, he contributed to the discovery and development of the Camflo gold mine in Quebec, and later was part of a talented team that made it a cornerstone of growth for Barrick Gold (formerly American Barrick). In the early 1980s, he recognized the potential of the Mercur gold mine in Utah, which became a key link in the evolution of Barrick.
Meikle’s crowning achievement was the 1986 Goldstrike discovery in Nevada, which grew to approximately 60 million ounces of gold reserves and resources in several deposits. Goldstrike propelled Barrick into the world’s largest gold miner and generated immense wealth that has flowed back to benefit Canadian companies, shareholders and society.
Born in Montreal, Meikle returned to Canada from California as a post-graduate student. He earned an MSc degree (geology) from McGill University in 1955, followed by his PhD in 1959. He was the recipient of McGill’s Logan Gold Medal in 1958, awarded to the graduating student who stands highest in the First Class Honours list in Geology.
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In 1962, Meikle joined Camflo Mines and was instrumental in discoveries that made the mine and the company. He spent 22 years with Camfl o in diverse roles, including mine manager and vicepresident of operations. In 1984, Peter Munk acquired Camflo for American Barrick and also gained a dream technical team to help realize his dream of creating a major gold producer.
(LtoR) Lisa MacDonald, Executive Director, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, presenting the award to Janet Meikle on behalf of Brian Meikle at the Mining Hall of Fame dinner on January 10th. Keith Houghton Photography.
Born the School of Mines in Nevada in 1888, the Mackay School of Mines is more than just an iconic building sitting opposite Morrill Hall on the University of Nevada, Reno’s historic Quadrangle.
It was one of a handful of mining schools that opened around then at Land Grant Universities to teach those untrained Gold Rushers the science of extracting precious metals – and John William Mackay, one of those eager early miners armed with little more than ambition and a strong back, would come to change not only this mining school but the entire University.
Mackay spent time in the California Gold Rush mining camps before arriving to mine the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, where he went from penniless Irish immigrant to multi-millionaire and one of four Bonanza Kings known the world over in a few short decades. While his fellow Kings cut and ran with their riches to big cities, Mackay’s deep sense of gratitude to Nevada tethered him and his family.
Barrick Gold Corp.’s new chief executive officer defended the company’s decision to lay off more than half of the staff at its Toronto head office before Christmas, saying it was a necessary move in a difficult market.
Barrick issued layoff notices to about 95 people at its headquarters in December, bringing its headcount down to about 65 people, The Globe and Mail reported on Dec. 21. In an interview, CEO Mark Bristow said there are no plans to shut the office entirely, adding that a continuing staff is needed to carry out treasury services, human resources and accounting.
In another sign of Barrick’s diminished presence in the country, the gold miner announced a revamped board of directors on which only one of nine members is Canadian. Leaving the board are Anthony Munk, son of Barrick founder Peter Munk; Toronto-based mining consultant Graham Clow; and Robert Prichard, who is chair of Bank of Montreal.
Barrick Gold Corp. () needs more assets in Canada, the gold miner’s new chief executive officer said Wednesday, on the company’s first day of trading since its recent acquisition of Randgold Resources Ltd.
“Barrick is back,” 59-year-old Mark Bristow told BNN Bloomberg in an interview from the New York Stock Exchange. “We should be proud of being team players in the Barrick family, and one of the things that I really am focused on is we definitely need more assets in Canada. ”
Barrick currently operates just one mine in the country – Hemlo Mines – east of Thunder Bay, Ont. “Don’t get too hung up right now on us only having Hemlo,” Bristow added. “We’re definitely focused on growing this business and you’re correct if you’re recognizing that we’re underweight in our investments in Canada.”
Franco-Nevada Corp. is worldwide, but the company still has royalties on gold produced at major mines in Nevada. “Nevada is our middle name,” said Franco-Nevada CEO David Harquail, who described Nevada’s mining industry as “rock solid. It’s been the bedrock of the gold industry. You can make mines in Nevada you can’t anywhere else.”
He predicts Nevada will continue to be a preferred jurisdiction for the industry. Harquail pointed to Barrick Gold Corp.’s Goldrush and Fourmile projects and Newmont Mining Corp.’s operations as examples of why Nevada will still be a mining stronghold.
Franco-Nevada doesn’t have royalties or assets tied with Barrick’s latest projects, but the company does have a royalty on the South Arturo Mine Barrick operates near the Goldstrike Mine north of Carlin. Barrick is 60 percent owner of South Arturo, and Premier Gold Mines Ltd. owns 40 percent.
In more than 25 years in the mining industry, Michael Brown says that as he retires, his proudest moment was bringing his company to Southern Nevada.
Brown joined Barrick Gold Corp. in 1994 as the vice president of government affairs and is retiring as president by the end of the year. He shared some of his thoughts on the industry and the future with the Sun. His comments have been lightly edited for grammar and style.
What do you think are some of the key ways your work at Barrick helped bring the mining industry and state government closer together?
Starting in 2012, I shifted Barrick from “random acts of good deeds” to focused corporate social responsibility. It meant aligning the company with Gov. Brian Sandoval and the Legislature’s priorities, to help address the high school dropout rate and to advance economic diversification.
Although gold had been taken out of the streams around Virginia City in 1850, it didn’t create much excitement in San Francisco immediately.
The gold tailings were worked when there was water in the streams that ran east from Mount Davidson, a peak from the Virginia Range in western Utah Territory. As more prospecting produced other catches of gold tailings, word spread that there might be a bonanza in the hot and forbidding area. A few took the bait and they left after the gold strike from Coloma panned out and they were left high and dry in San Francisco.
In 1857, Henry Comstock lucked upon an area where he and some others found some gold and silver veins that were promising for riches. Henry acquired the area after the Grosh brothers died before filing claims. Henry took over the cabin and land and enlarged his holdings by claiming more land around the cabin after hearing of a gold strike at Gold Hill.
LONDON (Reuters) – Barrick Gold Corp, which is being formed by Barrick’s (ABX.TO) $6.1 billion takeover of Randgold Resources (RRS.L), is in talks with Newmont Mining (NEM.N) to combine their Nevada gold mining operations, sources told Reuters.
Last month’s tie-up between Barrick and Africa-focused Randgold Resources revived speculation about a joint venture between Newmont and Barrick in Nevada, something the two mining firms had explored in 2014 without reaching a deal.
“They have been trying to negotiate for years but Newmont couldn’t agree with Barrick, now that you have a new management team, it’s certain they revived those talks,” one source said.
TORONTO (Reuters) – Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corp (NEM.N) reported lower third-quarter profit and revenue on Thursday, as a drop in bullion and copper prices hurt the gold miner’s results.
Newmont had been jockeying for the title of world’s largest gold producer this year, until Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) announced its $6.1 billion deal to buy Randgold Resources (RRS.L) in September.
Newmont would rather focus on improving margins for existing production than pursuing mergers and acquisitions for growth, Chief Executive Gary Goldberg said last month at an annual gold industry gathering in Denver.
TORONTO (Reuters) – Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) could have nine of the world’s top gold mines in a “relatively short” time under its $6.1 billion acquisition of African miner Randgold Resources Ltd (RRS.L), Barrick Executive Chairman John Thornton said Thursday.
Barrick and Randgold will focus on Tier 1 assets which produce 500,000 ounces of gold annually, have a mine life of more than 10 years and are low cost. The combined company, subject to a Nov. 5 shareholder vote, will have five of the world’s top 10 Tier 1 assets, Thornton said.
“This combination could have as many as nine Tier 1 assets within a relatively short period of time,” he said on a conference call with analysts to discuss quarterly financial results.
Armed with an improved understanding of the “stratigraphic complexities … and the importance of low angle structures and their contribution to gold deposition” at Red Hill, NuLegacy’s management team is eager to follow-up recent high-grade drill hits at the Serena target immediately. But it will also continue to drill widely spaced targets elsewhere in a bid to replicate the results and apply its expanded knowledge kit as broadly as possible on the 98sq.km property.
“We will be drilling more holes to follow up on the excellent results in SR18-02 [including 8.7m at 16.9gpt from 283.7m), but that same set-up of structure and stratigraphy can be seen in numerous places on the property,” NuLegacy president and CEO Anderson told Mining Journal.
“So we feel it would be a big mistake to focus on only one area.” Anderson said all junior companies had a geological analogue of what they were looking for.
