March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Newmont Mining Corp. denied that it’s interested in merging with Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest miner of the precious metal.

Newmont Chief Executive Officer Richard O’Brien said at a conference this week that he is open to sharing with Barrick processing plants, power generation and other infrastructure used at the two companies’ mines in Nevada, Omar Jabara, spokesman for Denver-based Newmont, said in an interview today.

“It was not a discussion about merger,” he said.

Jabara was responding to a report in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald dated today, which cited O’Brien as saying he was interested in a merger with Barrick.

Barrick spokesman Vince Borg declined to comment.

Newmont, the largest U.S. gold producer, rose $1.29, or 3 percent, to $44.19 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have risen 8.6 percent this year. Barrick added 1 cent to C$41.37 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Delaney in Toronto at robdelaney@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 20, 2009 16:31 EDT