Newmont Mining (NEM.US) is considering acquiring Barrick Gold (B.US) assets of gold mines in Nevada.

According to reports, Newmont Mining Corp (NEM.US) is considering acquiring control of the core Nevada gold mine assets owned by competitor Barrick Gold Corp (B.US) through a potential transaction, but it is currently unclear the extent to which Barrick is receptive to such proposals. Newmont Mining already holds a minority stake in a joint venture gold mine in Nevada that it operates with Barrick. It is reported that the company is in the early stages of exploring various transaction structures in order to achieve full ownership of the aforementioned assets. Reports indicate that Newmont Mining may consider various options, including acquiring Barrick's stake in the joint venture or acquiring the entire Barrick company and later divesting what it considers non-core assets. It is said that Newmont Mining has less interest in Barrick's African operations and the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan. Newmont's stock fell by 6.2% at the close of trading on Friday. Despite the company's third-quarter performance exceeding expectations, positive results were offset by two factors: market concerns about its weak production and the company's forecast that next year's gold production will slightly decrease due to adjustments in the mining sequence in key areas. Furthermore, Newmont announced that its Ahafo North project in Ghana has achieved commercial production, marking the successful completion of "one of the most significant mining development projects in West Africa in recent times."