Newmont: CEO Didn't Say Co Is Open To Barrick Merger

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) said a media report that its chief executive told investors Wednesday that he is open to a merger with Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) was inaccurate.

The story said Newmont's chief executive, Richard O'Brien, made the comments about a merger at an investor briefing Wednesday in New York.

Newmont's senior director of communications, Omar Jabara, told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday that the Sydney Morning Herald had misinterpreted O'Brien's comments.

Jabara said that during the briefing, an analyst asked O'Brien if Newmont was looking to find additional synergies with Barrick in Nevada, since both companies have infrastructure there.

According to Jabara, O'Brien responded that Newmont is certainly always looking for additional operational synergies in that region, where both companies currently operate a venture at the Turquoise Ridge mining complex.

"We believe the Sydney Morning Herald story misrepresented the context and the spirit in which our CEO responded to a question from an analyst regarding exploring possible additional operational synergies between Barrick and Newmont, specifically in Nevada," Jabara said, adding that the idea of the companies looking for synergies in Nevada is nothing new.

Jabara said it is company policy not to comment on mergers and acquisitions, so he couldn't respond to the question if Newmont is seeking a merger with Barrick. However, he stressed that O'Brien's comments were taken out of context.

That view was echoed by Barnard Jacobs Mellet analyst Patrick Chidley, who attended the investor briefing and said O'Brien "categorically did not say he was considering a merger with Barrick."

-By Jennifer Hoyt, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2474; [e-mail]