Barrick Gold ‘s top shareholder said on Tuesday the miner should focus on striking a joint venture deal in Nevada with rival Newmont Mining before considering a full-blown merger.
"My preference is a joint venture," Joe Foster of the Van Eck International Investors Gold Fund, said in a phone interview. "I don’t flat out oppose a merger. If a merger is the only way to unify Nevada then maybe, just maybe, that’s something we might consider. But as it stands the best path right now is to form a JV in Nevada."