The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Aug. 1, edition that the pace of mergers and acquisitions in the gold sector has picked up over the past year with the world's two biggest gold companies, Barrick Gold and Newmont Goldcorp, striking multibillion-dollar deals amid improving balance sheets and rising gold prices. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that there have also been a number of smaller deals over the past few months, with Australia's St. Barbara Ltd. buying Vancouver-based Atlantic Gold in May for $722-million and Newcrest Mining paying $806-million (U.S.) for a majority interest in one of Imperial Metals' mines. Many of the deals have been driven by the need to replace dwindling gold reserves among many of the world's miners. Kinross Gold's most recent gold acquisition was its $610-million (U.S.) purchase of the Bald Mountain mine in Nevada from Barrick in 2015.