The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Barrick Gold's lunge for Newmont Mining has officially gone hostile, with Newmont sniffily rejecting Barrick's $17.8-billion offer and blasting its executive chairman, John Thornton, for shabby performance (all figures U.S.). The Globe's Eric Reguly writes that on Monday, as expected, Newmont told Barrick to hit the road; but do not count Barrick out. Its all-share, nil-premium offer, revealed on Feb. 25, was a non-starter, Newmont said in its presentation, arguing that Newmont's proposed $10-billion takeover of Goldcorp was less risky and would create ample value for shareholders. Newmont gleefully noted that since Mr. Thornton's arrival, Barrick's share price has underperformed Newmont's by $12-billion. Since the end of 2013, Barrick's total shareholder return (including reinvested dividends) was negative 22 per cent. Newmont's total return was 65 per cent. A presentation made two years ago by Paulson & Co. praised Randgold as the best performer in the industry, measured by shareholder return, between 2010 and 2017. Randgold was one of only three companies in positive territory. Mr. Bristow's impressive record will not be lost on Newmont's shareholders.