The chief executive officer of Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM.N) said he sees “great potential” in Goldcorp Inc.’s (G.TO) assets despite pushback from industry leaders, as the company rejected Barrick Gold Corp.’s (ABX.TO) US$17.8-billion takeover offer on Monday.

“We see those assets at Goldcorp in a similar place as to where our assets were five years ago,” Gary Goldberg told BNN Bloomberg in an interview. “And applying our approach to running assets as we’ve successfully delivered the improved value across Newmont over the last five years, we can do the same with Goldcorp’s assets.”

“We really see great potential,” he added. “We see cornerstone assets in [Goldcorp’s] assets going forward to match our current cornerstone assets. And it’s complementary – it fits well within our portfolio and well within our operating model and ability to deliver value to shareholders.”

Goldberg’s comments come a week after Barrick CEO Mark Bristow told analysts in a conference call that Newmont’s decision to pay a 17-per-cent premium for Goldcorp, its "second-tier assets," and no synergies strikes him as “desperate and bizarre,” which was a shot back at Goldberg, who earlier described Barrick’s tactics using those same words.

On the same day, Goldcorp Founder Rob McEwen acknowledged Goldcorp’s assets are not as strong as Barrick’s and that a Barrick-Newmont deal would be a win for his former company.

Bristow expressed his frustration with Newmont’s rejection of his company’s latest offer on Monday.

“Newmont’s latest proposal is essentially based on the stale and convoluted process that foundered previously,” Bristow said in a statement.

“As usual, it comes with unrealistic preconditions including swapping the chairmanship and the leadership of the [joint venture]. Experience has shown us that JVs only work well when the majority owner is also the operator.”

Although Newmont turned down Barrick’s takeover bid –  which was offered with the condition that Newmont abandon its US$10-billion Goldcorp deal –  it instead proposed a joint venture with Barrick in Nevada, where both of the companies hold assets.

Goldberg said the partnership structure is a better option than a takeover because a tie-up between the companies would expose Newmont shareholders to Barrick’s “very risky assets” and a “very risky operating model.”  

“At the end of the day, I think what’s best is for us to sit down together with Barrick to take a look at what the value potential would be,” Goldberg said, noting he invited Bristow to talk last week at an industry conference in Florida.

But whether that meeting takes place is uncertain amid tension between the two companies, whose leaders have been trading barbs over the last week.

In addition to the “desperate and bizarre” comments, Goldberg told Bloomberg Television last week he believed Barrick Chairman John Thornton is still firmly in control and trying to drive things the way he sees fit.

“Quite frankly, [Thornton] was fearful of our joining up with Goldcorp in terms of what that meant to Barrick going forward,” he said.  

When asked by BNN Bloomberg whether he dislikes Thornton, citing a slide in his investor presentation that referred to the company’s share performance and Thorton’s compensation, Goldberg said his comments have been about surfacing the correct information.

“This is all about stating the facts and getting the missing facts out there.”