A big and bold Barrick Gold hits the market: Acquisition of Randgold Resources complete as Barrick launches new shares on TSX, NYSE.

The US$6-billion merger of Barrick Gold and Randgold Resources is complete with trading starting on the new company's shares on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges.

Executive Chairman John Thornton and president-CEO Mark Bristow participated in the opening bell at the NYSE on Jan.2.

The new mining company will still operate under the Barrick banner but its trading symbol on the NYSE will change to GOLD, the ticker formerly held by Randgold on NASDAQ. On the TSX, the ticker remains ABX.

In a news release, Barrick claimed the merger creates a "sector-leading" mining company which owns five of the industry's Top 10 Tier One gold assets in Cortez and Goldstrike in Nevada, (100 per cent); Kibali in the Congo (45 per cent); Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali (80 per cent); and Pueblo Viejo in Dominican Republic (60 per cent).

Barrick's only Northern Ontario asset is the Williams Mine in the Hemlo complex. Located on the north shore of Lake Superior, Hemlo has produced more than 21 million ounces of gold over more than 30 years. But media reports over the past year suggest...