Opening of Chinese-Aussie gold mine shows solid partnership between Canberra, Beijing (3)

Behind Norton's strategy is consistent global interest and rising demand for gold in China, which is currently outstripping supply.

China produced around 410 metric tons of gold in 2012, but consumed nearly 800 tons. The Asian economy is the world's biggest producer of the precious metal, ahead of Australia.

Chen knows Barrick's Australian assets well. He worked in Australia for Barrick Gold through 2007, including a stint as a manager at the Darlot mine.

An offer by Norton for the mines would be another major milestone by a management team that has been praised for its natural harmony and close working relationship.

Norton has a market value of 137 million AU dollars while Zijin, listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, has a market value of around 10 billion AU dollars.

A successful takeover of KMC will see Zijin's stake in Norton fall to around 81 percent and the Chinese company is happy to dilute its holding further via future deals to improve the broaden Norton's shareholder base, Chen said.

"Zijin is in the stage to grow their business internationally and, given the current market, maybe it is a good time for expanding further in Australia," Chen said.