Barrick's acquisition of Newmont will be contingent upon the company scrapping its agreement with Goldcorp, Barrick said, adding that its offer was a 'significantly superior' option for Newmont shareholders.
However painful, the reserve cuts and associated writedowns are seen helping nurse the sector back to longer-term health by discouraging miners from seeking low-margin growth at the expense of profits. It is a shift most mining executives have promised over the last year and one that investors are keen to see them deliver.
A steep drop in the price of gold will hit profits at mining companies that are already straining under rising costs, and could prompt some miners to rethink their capital spending.