By Vallari Srivastava Dec 1 (Reuters) – Barrick Mining said on Monday it was exploring an initial public offering of a subsidiary that would hold its North American gold assets amid a record rally in bullion prices. U.S.-listed shares of the Canadian miner rose 3.7% in premarket trading. A split would reverse Barrick's 2019 merger with Randgold Resources, and comes as investors pressure the miner to use a historic rally in gold prices to boost returns, while shedding riskier assets in Africa, Papa New Guinea and Pakistan's Reko Diq. Gold has hit record highs this year on expectations of lower interest rates and safe-haven flows. The new entity would comprise of Barrick's joint venture interests in Nevada Gold Mines (NGM) and Pueblo Viejo in Dominican Republic, and the Fourmile gold discovery. Barrick jointly owns NGM, the world's largest gold-producing complex, with rival Newmont and is also looking to develop the Fourmile gold mine in Nevada. "This plan essentially packages up the parts of Barrick the market is currently most excited about into a vehicle that is likely to become an acquisition target for Newmont," said Shane Nagle, an analyst at National Bank of Canada Financial Markets. The Canadian miner said it plans to offer a small minority interest, while retaining a significant controlling majority interest. The company was considering splitting into Africa-and-North America-focused entities, Reuters reported last month citing sources. Barrick said it would provide an update on the IPO evaluation in February. The company has had a volatile year, marked by a long-drawn dispute over its gold mine in Mali, which led to a $1 billion write-off of the asset, and the sudden exit of Mark Bristow as its CEO. Last month, Barrick reached an agreement with Mali's government to resolve all their disputes over the Loulo-Gounkoto gold mining complex after two years of negotiations. Besides Nevada and Mali, its working facilities include copper mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, gold in Tanzania, the Dominican Republic, and Papua New Guinea. (Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Pooja Menon; Editing by Leroy Leo and Shinjini Ganguli)
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