Newmont's Gary Goldberg and Barrick's Mark Bristow pictured together in March.
The creation of the world’s largest gold producing complex, the yet-to-be-named joint venture (JV) of Barrick Gold and Newmont Goldcorp in Nevada, has cleared all regulatory conditions required for its completion, Canadian miner Barrick reported on Monday.
This comes as the US Federal Trade Commission last week granted an early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
Barrick president and CEO Mark Bristow said in a media release that the practical measures required to integrate the JV assets and establish the new business were now being taken and that they were anticipated to be completed before the end of June.
The business will be 61.5% owned by Barrick and 38.5% by Newmont Goldcorp. Barrick will operate the gold mining complex, the assets of which produced more than four-million ounces of gold – three times that of the next largest gold mine – in 2018.
The Nevada complex will have three tier-one assets, potentially another one in the making and 48-million ounces of reserves. The JV will exclude Barrick’s Fourmile project and Newmont’s Fiberline and Mike deposits, pending the determination of their commercial feasibility.
The March announcement of the Nevada JV agreement marked what Bristow said, at the time, was the successful culmination of a deal that had been more than two decades in the making. It also ended a bitter hostile takeover battle between the two gold miners and cleared the way for Newmont to complete its $10-billion buy of Goldcorp.
“The joint venture agreement represents a historic accord between our companies that will unlock the enormous geological potential of the Nevada goldfields and maximise its many value-creating opportunities,” Bristow commented this week.
Newmont Goldcorp CEO Gary Goldberg said in a media statement that its cooperation with Barrick in Nevada would extend production, lower costs and create new opportunities for stakeholders in the region.