Barrick said Institutional Shareholder Services had recommended shareholders vote in favour of the merger resolutions.

ISS had made a negative recommendation regarding a continuance resolution, Barrick said on Friday, prompting the miner to make minor revisions, with ISS then yesterday recommending shareholders vote for the continuance of Barrick to the province of British Columbia.

The two gold miners had announced their planned share-for-share merger a month ago in a bid to create "an industry leading gold company with the greatest concentration of Tier One assets", lowest total cash cost position and diversified asset portfolio.

Barrick's strategic partners Zijin Mining and Shandong Gold have both welcomed the proposed merger.

"Zijin considers Africa to be one of the most prospective regions on the planet, and we are confident that the new company's expertise and record of success on the continent will create more avenues to expand our strategic partnership," Zijin said last month.

Shandong has said the merger would create a new leading company in the gold industry and bring Shandong new development opportunities.

Both Randgold (LSE: RRS) and Barrick (TSX: ABX) have seen their share prices rise since mid-September.

They each closed up slightly on Friday, with Randgold up 0.16% in London at £62.68, capitalising it over £5.9 billion, while Barrick closed up 0.17% to C$17.29 in Toronto, valuing it at $20.2 billion.