Newmont shareholders back Goldcorp merger

US miner Newmont Mining said its shareholders voted in favor of a US$10bn merger with Canada's Goldcorp, which will create the world's largest gold producer.

Over 76% of shareholders backed the transaction after Newmont announced a special US$0.88/share dividend to be paid May 1, the Denver-based company said in a statement. Goldcorp shareholders backed the takeover in a vote last week.

Newmont had to fend off first a hostile takeover bid by Toronto-based Barrick Gold and then overcome opposition by shareholders including investment funds Paulson & Co and VanEck. Newmont and Barrick compromised by merging their adjoining Nevada operations.

In Latin America, the acquisition pools Goldcorp's operations in Argentina, Mexico, Chile and a 40% stake in Barrick's Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic with Newmont's mines in Peru and Suriname, in addition to stakes in projects in Colombia and French Guiana.

It also creates a 6-7Moz/y gold producer with the largest reserves in the gold industry, in addition to US$4.4bn in synergies, according to Newmont. Newmont saw gold output fall 3% to 5.1Moz and copper production drop 4% to 49,000t in 2018, while Goldcorp's gold production fell 11% to 2.29Moz.

Newmont's CEO Gary Goldberg will be replaced by Newmont's president Tom Palmer at the end of the year, while Rob Atkinson will become COO and Dean Gehring becomes chief technology officer of the merged company as of June 1. CFO Nancy Buese and exploration VP Marcelo Godoy have been retained.