Randgold Resources and Canada's Barrick have agreed to merge in a deal that will create an 18.3 billion US dollar (£14 billion) gold mining giant.

According to the terms of the all-share deal, Barrick shareholders will own around 66.6% of the new combined firm, while Randgold shareholders will hold the remaining 33.4%.

The tie-up will create a mining titan that owns five of the world's top-ten tier one gold assets.

Randgold boss Mark Bristow, who will lead the New Barrick Group, said: "Our industry has been criticised for its short-term focus, undisciplined growth and poor returns on invested capital.

"The merged company will be very different.

"Its goal will be to deliver sector-leading returns, and in order to achieve this, we will need to take a very critical view of our asset base and how we run our business, and be prepared to make tough decisions.

"By employing a strategy similar to the one that proved very successful at Randgold, but on a larger scale, the New Barrick Group will leverage some of the world's best mines and talent to create real value for all stakeholders."

It will be "positioned for growth in many of the world's most prolific gold districts", the companies said on Monday.

The deal will see Randgold shareholders receive 6.1280 new Barrick shares for each share held.

The merged firm will have an aggregate market capitalisation of 18.3 billion US dollars.

Based on the 2017 financial results, together the companies would have made 9.7 US dollars in revenues and adjusted earnings of approximately 4.7 billion US dollars (£3.6 billion).