Barrick and Newmont Talk, But Details Yet to Emerge on Progress

(Bloomberg) -- After weeks of carping at each other, representatives of Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. met on Tuesday. Just what happened remains unclear.

A spokesman for Newmont called the meeting “productive and a good starting point.” Barrick didn’t immediately comment. The talk came a day after Newmont’s board rejected Barrick’s hostile takeover bid, and the target company’s CEO said he’d be willing to negotiate a joint venture involving the companies’ Nevada operations.

While Newmont Chief Executive Officer Gary Goldberg said he was only willing to talk about the joint venture, there’s no indication that Barrick CEO Mark Bristow is ready to give up his bid to buy Newmont. A day earlier, Bristow said he plans to proceed with a formal takeover offer for Newmont

Bristow flew to New York yesterday, missing a reception for Barrick’s international “partners” at Toronto’s National Club to meet with Newmont. Goldberg was in New York and was thought to represent his company at the table.

The gathering comes after a week in which leaders at the two companies have disparaged each other’s ability to manage their assets. Prior to the meeting, Bristow suggested Newmont’s willingness to talk could be a “smoke screen” to block a hostile bid. Newmont has said Barrick’s plans to move forward with a hostile play for Newmont could be about derailing Newmont’s own takeover offer for Goldcorp.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Bochove in Toronto at dbochove1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Luzi Ann Javier at ljavier@bloomberg.net, Joe Richter

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