Canadian Barrick Gets US$1.95 Billion From Newmont as U.S. Gold Fight Ends and IPO Path Opens

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Barrick Mining has turned one of the biggest obstacles facing its North American restructuring into a US$1.95-billion agreement. The Toronto-based miner and U.S. gold giant Newmont have settled their outstanding disputes over Nevada Gold Mines, the enormous joint venture that combines many of their most valuable American operations. Newmont will provide Barrick with US$1.95 billion as previously excluded properties are folded into the partnership, while also consenting to Barrick’s proposed North American gold IPO.

The deal reaches far beyond a cash payment. It settles a fight involving management, resources and the strategically important Fourmile discovery, expands an already extraordinary Nevada gold complex and removes uncertainty surrounding a listing Barrick wants completed before the end of 2026. For investors, the agreement changes the conversation from whether Newmont and Barrick can coexist inside Nevada Gold Mines to how much value the reorganized business can ultimately create.

Newmont Will Pay Barrick US$1.95 Billion as the Nevada Dispute Ends

At the centre of the agreement is US$1.95 billion in consideration from Newmont to Barrick. The companies said the payment reflects the contribution of properties that had previously sat outside Nevada Gold Mines. Barrick will contribute Fourmile, while Newmont will bring its Fiberline and Mike developments into the joint venture. Reuters reported that Newmont is expected to make the cash payment to Barrick within 30 days. Just as importantly, the companies said all outstanding disputes connected with Nevada Gold Mines are being concluded.

That makes the transaction considerably bigger than a conventional asset swap. Nevada Gold Mines is owned 61.5% by Barrick and 38.5% by Newmont, with Barrick serving as operator. The partnership controls a vast network of underground and open-pit mines and processing facilities across northern Nevada. Barrick says the new arrangement, including the contributed properties, expands the Nevada complex to nearly 100 million ounces. The companies have also agreed to enhanced governance provisions through a modernized joint venture agreement, an important change after months of public disagreement over how the partnership was being managed.

A Partnership Born From a Takeover Battle Had Become a Source of Conflict

Barrick and Newmont have a complicated history in Nevada. In 2019, the two companies agreed to combine their Nevada operations after Barrick withdrew its hostile acquisition proposal for Newmont. The resulting Nevada Gold Mines partnership gave Barrick a 61.5% economic interest and Newmont 38.5%, with Barrick becoming operator. At the time, the companies estimated that combining neighbouring mines, processing plants and infrastructure could create roughly US$5 billion in pre-tax net present value from synergies over 20 years.

Some assets were deliberately left outside the partnership. Barrick’s Fourmile project and Newmont’s Fiberline and Mike deposits were excluded while their commercial potential was evaluated. That decision became increasingly important as Fourmile developed into one of Barrick’s most promising growth projects. By early 2026, the relationship had deteriorated. Newmont told regulators it had identified what it described as evidence of mismanagement at Nevada Gold Mines, including the alleged diversion of resources toward Barrick’s wholly owned Fourmile property. Barrick disputed allegations involving misuse of joint-venture assets and warned in its own filings that the disagreement could potentially escalate into litigation.

Fourmile Became Valuable Enough to Change the Entire Equation

Fourmile explains much of the strategic importance behind the US$1.95-billion settlement. Barrick’s 2025 preliminary economic assessment outlined the potential for the Nevada discovery to eventually produce roughly 600,000 to 750,000 ounces of gold annually. The study contemplated a mine life exceeding 25 years, project capital of approximately US$1.5 billion to US$1.7 billion and life-of-mine all-in sustaining costs of roughly US$650 to US$750 per ounce. Those figures remain preliminary rather than guaranteed outcomes, but they illustrate why ownership and access became such high-stakes issues.

Development work has continued while the corporate dispute played out. Barrick reported in its second-quarter results that 20 drilling rigs were active at Fourmile and that resource-conversion drilling was supporting a prefeasibility study targeted for 2028. The company also awarded the Bullion Hill decline-development contract and expected decline development to begin during the third quarter of 2026. Fourmile sits beside existing Nevada Gold Mines infrastructure, meaning future ore could potentially benefit from processing facilities already operating across the Carlin-Cortez system. Bringing it into the joint venture therefore aligns ownership with infrastructure that may ultimately help unlock its value.

Newmont’s Consent Removes a Major Question Hanging Over Barrick’s IPO

The settlement matters most strategically because Newmont has now formally consented to Barrick’s proposed IPO of its North American gold assets. Earlier in 2026, questions surrounding the Nevada Gold Mines agreement had complicated the plan. Regulatory filings showed that the partnership contained protections involving transfers of ownership interests, while Newmont publicly emphasized that any transaction involving its joint ventures had to respect existing contractual restrictions. That created uncertainty around an IPO whose most important underlying asset would be Barrick’s interest in Nevada Gold Mines.

The new agreement provides a much cleaner route forward. Barrick continues to target completion of the IPO by the end of 2026 and has said the new company would be primarily listed in New York with a secondary Toronto listing. Barrick intends to retain a significant controlling interest rather than fully separate from the business. Earlier in 2026, CEO Mark Hill indicated that approximately 10% to 15% of the North American operation could be offered to public investors. The final transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals, market conditions and the eventual structure of the offering, but partner opposition is no longer the central issue it once was.

The Proposed Company Would Contain Some of Barrick’s Most Valuable Gold Assets

Barrick is not proposing to place a collection of marginal properties into the new company. Its North American portfolio contains some of the strongest producing gold assets in the group. The planned business includes Barrick’s interest and operatorship in Nevada Gold Mines as well as its interest in Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic and other North American exploration properties. Barrick said in April that the portfolio’s gold assets produced approximately two million attributable ounces in 2025.

Nevada Gold Mines provides the foundation. The operation stretches across the Carlin, Cortez, Turquoise Ridge and Phoenix districts and uses a highly interconnected processing system consisting of mills, roasters, autoclaves, concentrators and heap-leach facilities. That infrastructure allows different types of ore to be moved toward suitable processing facilities instead of treating every mine as an isolated operation. Fourmile potentially adds a major future growth engine to that network. Pueblo Viejo adds another large, long-life operation outside Nevada while still fitting Barrick’s strategy of creating a focused gold company concentrated in jurisdictions it considers comparatively lower risk. The result could give investors a much more targeted way to own Barrick’s premier gold assets.

The Deal Arrived Alongside Stronger Earnings — and Noticeably Higher Mining Costs

Barrick announced the agreement on the same morning it reported second-quarter 2026 results, creating a complicated picture for investors. Gold production reached 796,000 ounces, up 11% from the first quarter and above Barrick’s guidance range of 730,000 to 770,000 ounces. Revenue jumped 44% from a year earlier to US$5.29 billion, while net earnings increased 50% to US$1.22 billion. Operating cash flow reached US$1.70 billion, 28% higher than a year earlier. Those figures demonstrate how dramatically elevated gold prices have strengthened the miner’s financial results.

Costs, however, moved sharply higher as well. Gold cost of sales reached US$1,993 per ounce, compared with US$1,654 a year earlier, while all-in sustaining costs climbed 11% to US$1,866 per ounce. Barrick attributed the pressure partly to lower grades at operations including Carlin and Cortez, higher fuel expenses and royalties linked to stronger realized gold prices. Adjusted earnings of US$0.82 per share also fell short of the US$0.88 average analyst estimate cited by Reuters. Barrick shares consequently fell sharply in early Monday trading despite the Newmont breakthrough, showing that investors were weighing operating costs alongside the strategic benefits of the settlement.

Barrick Now Has Another US$1.95 Billion to Consider in an Already Aggressive Capital-Return Plan

One of the next questions is what Barrick ultimately does with the money. The joint Barrick-Newmont announcement established the US$1.95-billion consideration but did not formally announce a final allocation of those proceeds. Barrick already entered the agreement with an unusually active shareholder-return program. During the second quarter alone, the company repurchased approximately US$1.209 billion of its shares under a US$3-billion authorization and declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.175 per share.

Barrick’s current dividend policy targets total annualized payouts equal to 50% of attributable free cash flow, combining a fixed quarterly dividend with a potential year-end performance component. The Financial Times, citing a person familiar with the company’s plans, reported that Barrick expected to return the vast majority of the Newmont payment to shareholders, subject to board approval. Until Barrick formally commits the proceeds, that should be treated as an expectation rather than a completed decision. Still, the payment gives the miner considerable flexibility at a moment when it is simultaneously funding growth projects, preparing an IPO and attempting to convince shareholders that restructuring can translate into tangible returns.

The Biggest Obstacle Is Gone, but the IPO Still Has Several Tests Ahead

The agreement dramatically improves Barrick’s ability to advance the North American IPO, but it does not make the listing automatic. Barrick continues to target completion by the end of 2026, while acknowledging that the offering remains dependent on market conditions, regulatory approvals, securities-law requirements and other customary conditions. A primary U.S. listing would require the appropriate SEC process, while the planned secondary Toronto listing would involve Canadian prospectus and exchange requirements. The contributed Nevada properties themselves are also subject to the conditions and approvals described by Barrick and Newmont.

Operational execution may be just as important as paperwork. The new company will inherit world-class assets, but Barrick still has to demonstrate that Nevada Gold Mines can improve performance, control costs and develop Fourmile successfully. The modernized governance agreement may help by reducing the friction between two companies whose interests were becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile. The US$1.95-billion payment settles the immediate argument; it does not guarantee Fourmile’s projected economics or a successful IPO valuation. What it does provide is something Barrick badly needed: a clearer ownership structure, cooperation from Newmont and a credible path toward putting its prized North American gold portfolio in front of public-market investors.

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