Barrick Gold and Randgold Resources in Advance Merger Talks: Reports

Canada's Barrick Gold Corp. is reportedly near an agreement to buy London-listed Randgold Resources Ltd. in a deal that could be worth as much as $18 billion, according to media reports.

The agreement could be announced as soon as Monday, according to a report from Reuters citing a person familiar with the talks.

Mining blog IKN first reported the news on Sunday, and Bloomberg later said the two companies were in advanced discussions.

Neither Barrick (ABX) nor Randgold (GOLD) could be reached late Sunday evening, East Coast time, for comment on the reports.