Canadian gold mining firm Barrick Gold Corporation (TSE: ABX) said on Monday that it does not intend to lift a finger in blocking the looming takeover bid of Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) for Lihir Gold Ltd (ASX: LGL), calling the deal as an almost done arrangement.

Barrick Australia Pacific president Gary Halverson said that they may be constantly on the lookout for some fruitful opportunities but the company is assuming at this time that the Lihir-Newcrest deal is reaching the final stage of negotiations.

Mr Halverson told reporters covering the Diggers & Dealers mining conference held in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia that it appeared that Newcrest has the better prospect of sealing the deal so the company has decided to step aside and any revision on that matter could only be made by its parent company stationed in Canada.

He clarified though that the world's largest gold explorer remained committed for possible mergers and acquisitions or joint ventures with other companies and "if people come to us with exciting prospects that we can have a value add, we'll certainly look at joint ventures or some type of mergers and acquisitions activity."

Mr Halverson revealed that Barrick is looking to expand its base in Australia, which is the source of up to 25 percent of the company's global output and putting the country in line as the gold miner's priority location for further investments.

This year alone, Barrick is set to spend an estimated $US50 million or $A55.17 million for exploration projects within Australia, covering up to 35 percent of global expenditures for the company's gold mining endeavours.

At present, the company maintains a major exploration site in Papua New Guinea where its Porgera gold mine site is located, which is near the gold mining operation of Lihir.