GLENCORE CEO MEETS WITH NEW DRC HEAD AFTER TIES STRAINED

Glencore PLC CEO Ivan Glasenberg met the Democratic Republic of Congo’s new president this week, their first encounter since Felix Tshisekedi took office, according to people familiar with the matter. The meeting comes after relations between mining firms and the government deteriorated last year, when former president Joseph Kabila backed an overhaul of Congo’s mining code that hiked royalties and imposed new taxes. Tshisekedi replaced Kabila Jan. 24 after winning elections in December. Glasenberg, pictured, met with Tshisekedi on Feb. 25, said three people who asked not to be identified. They didn’t provide details of what was discussed. Barrick Gold Corp. CEO Mark Bristow said last month he met Tshisekedi’s chief of staff and advisers on Jan. 29. Barrick operates the Kibali gold mine in northeast Congo.

MINING the way they want it to look.”

Barrick declined to comment. Executive chairman John Thornton earlier this year led Toronto-based Barrick’s acquisition of Randgold Resources Ltd. in a zeropremium deal. He and CEO Mark Bristow view this type of transaction as a way forward for an industry that has been criticized for bidding up assets when gold prices are high.

In contrast, Newmont offered a 17-per-cent premium in its own deal to buy Goldcorp. That transaction would be scuttled if Barrick’s offer is successful.

Barrick fell 2.6 per cent to US$12.30 at mid-afternoon in New York, while Newmont was down 0.9 per cent to US$33.80, as spot gold prices declined. Based on those prices, Newmont is still trading 6.2-per-cent higher than Barrick’s all-share offer, indi- cating investors believe there may be a higher bid for the Colorado-based miner in the future or that the Barrick bid may not succeed.

“It seems arrogant on Barrick’s behalf to assume shareholders will believe in the value creation of the merged Barrick- Newmont entity as the offset to a premium that’s not paid in the marketplace directly in the bid,” said Douglas Groh at Tocqueville Asset Management in New York, which owns 1.35 million Newmont shares and 175,625 Barrick shares. “It’s cheeky on their part to assume shareholders are so naive to assume premium value will come through their execution.”

Newmont CEO Gary Goldberg has called Barrick’s move a “desperate and bizarre” attempt to derail the takeover of Goldcorp.

DOUGLAS C. PIZAC / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Barrick Gold’s offer to buy rival Newmont has ignited a war of words between the world’s largest gold miners.