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The company also holds ten other properties on the Carlin, Independence and Northern Nevada Rift gold trends.

The project will enable Newmont Goldcorp to continue advancing its vision to create mine 4.0— an interconnected mine of the future.  

Gold miners have for years been accused of eroding profits through expensive deals but the takeovers of Randgold by Barrick and Goldcorp by Newmont have spurred speculation about a pick up in long-dormant gold M&A.

Gold deliveries to central bank unit Fidelity Printers and Refiners, which buys all the country's gold, declined to 6.5 tonnes from 7.3 tonnes during the January-March quarter.

By law, all gold produced by small miners in the Philippines should be sold to the central bank at around market price, but miners have circumvented taxes introduced in 2011 by selling on the black market.

The Vancouver-based miner is exploring the past-producing Idaho-Maryland gold mine, located near Grass Valley in northeastern California.

The farm-in deal gives Newcrest the option to acquire 70% of the project by spending $65 million on exploration and development over five years.

Comments come after parent company Barrick Gold proposed to acquire all of the shares it does not already own in the Tanzanian miner.

Ecuador has attracted a flurry of interest from big miners eager to increase their exposure to copper.