The accord follows on from an earlier agreement inked in April 2017, when Shandong took a 50% interest in Barrick's nearby Veladero mine, in Argentina.

"This agreement will allow us to take our partnership to the next level, as we jointly explore opportunities to enhance long-term value for our respective owners, as well as our government and community partners," Barrick executive chairman John Thornton said Monday.

At the core of the enhanced cooperation agreement is the stated intent to evaluate joint investment in organic mining projects currently owned by Barrick or Shandong Gold. Both partners have agreed to consider opportunities to work together on acquisition opportunities or potential asset sales, creating a potential gold-focused superpower.

The agreement further builds on the independent work Shandong Gold is currently completing on the potential for a standalone openpit mine on the Lama portion of the stalled multi-billion-dollar Pascua-Lama project, which straddles the Argentina/Chile border. This includes a high-level evaluation of potential synergies between Lama and the Veladero operation.

After evaluating the results from this undertaking, the partners might choose to conduct more studies and technical work to assess a number of development options, including the construction of an openpit mine at Lama; the feasibility of using heap leach processing for low-grade and easy-to-leach gold ore; and the feasibility of adopting low-cyanide or other environmentally-friendly leaching reagents.

The enhanced pact also provides for closer collaboration between the companies' respective engineering and technical teams.

The companies say they will seek to strengthen their corporate excellence, safety, efficiency, and mining practices by designating one of Shandong Gold's mines as a platform for learning and collaboration. This will form a basis for sharing technical expertise and best practices regarding mining technology, information technology, information management and digital innovation.

"The enhanced agreement further establishes new mechanisms to foster greater communication and knowledge-sharing between the partners' respective management and technical teams," the companies said in a statement

"This covers disciplines such as mining, engineering, construction, social and environmental management and finance."

The partners also agreed to provide access to their respective supplier networks, service providers, investors and capital providers.