Newcrest, the largest Australian gold miner, has agreed to support a blockbuster takeover by global gold heavyweight Newmont Corporation in a deal that values the company at nearly $29 billion.

The deal, subject to approval from both companies’ shareholders and regulators, would be the biggest in the history of the gold mining industry, and would consolidate Newmont’s position as the world’s largest producer of the precious metal with mines spanning the Americas, Africa, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Newcrest’s board on Monday said it would urge investors to support the deal, under which Newcrest shareholders will receive 0.4 Newmont shares for each share they hold, implying a value of $29.27 a share. An earlier offer, which Newcrest rejected, would have entitled Newcrest shareholders to receive 0.38 Newmont shares for each Newcrest share they own. Newmont’s new bid also permits Newcrest to pay a special dividend of up to $US1.10 ($1.65) a share, the companies said.

“This transaction will combine two of the world’s leading global gold producers, bringing forward significant value to Newcrest shareholders,” Newcrest chairman Peter Tomsett said.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Newmont has mining operations across the globe spanning gold, copper, silver, zinc and lead. It has two major Australian gold mines – Boddington in Western Australia and Tanami in the Northern Territory.

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Melbourne-based Newcrest owns gold and copper mines in NSW, Western Australia, PNG and Canada, and holds equity interests in gold assets in Ecuador.

Newmont said it would have about 8 million ounces of combined annual gold production if the deal proceeds, with more than two-thirds of that production coming from 10 top-tier, long-life and low-cost mines.

It also said it would add about 350 million pounds of copper – a metal that will be needed in vastly greater quantities in the coming years as raw materials to build renewable energy infrastructure and electric vehicles.