The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Barrick chief executive officer Mark Bristow says he tried to get together with Ian Telfer in 2017 to talk about potential deals, but the Goldcorp chairman refused to meet with him. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that Barrick has made a $17.8-billion (U.S.) hostile, all-share takeover offer for Colorado-based Newmont Mining, and as part of its campaign, it is trying to persuade Newmont shareholders that their company's proposed $10-billion (U.S.) takeover of Goldcorp is a bad idea. In response, Newmont this week published an e-mail sent to Goldcorp by Mr. Bristow in 2017 when he was CEO of Randgold Resources. "You have assembled a strong portfolio of assets located in world class districts," Mr. Bristow wrote, while inviting Mr. Telfer to talk about "options that might be worthwhile exploring together." The revelation that Mr. Bristow praised Goldcorp's portfolio came as a surprise to those who have listened to him disparage the Vancouver-based miner's assets as "second tier." Mr. Bristow told The Globe that he sent the e-mail because Goldcorp was "in deep trouble" and Randgold might help. For his part, Mr. Telfer believed Randgold's African assets were too risky.