Last week, US-based Newmont Mining agreed to purchase Canadian rival Goldcorp for $10 Billion in a deal that will create the world's largest gold mining company. This merger announcement comes on the tails of a $6 Billion acquisition of Randgold Resources by Canadian based Barrick Gold. Randgold Resources is a Jersey-based company that primarily operates in the African nation of Mali. Industrywide mining deals have surpassed $10 billion three times in the past five months. The last time the industry experienced this level of activity was in December of 2014. Apart from mergers and acquisitions, activist investors are purchasing significant stakes in mining companies and advocating for changes.