The proposed merger of Newmont Mining Corp. and Goldcorp is closer to becoming a reality after Goldcorp shareholders approved Newmont’s $10 billion takeover offer.

The merger would be the largest ever in the gold sector and if Newmont shareholders approve the merger it will create the largest gold producer in the world with assets in the Americas, Africa and Australia. Newmont shareholders will vote on April 18 and, if approved, the deal is expected to close by June.

About 97 percent of Goldcorp’s outstanding shares that were voted at a special meeting were cast in favor of the deal, the company said in a statement. Newmont had offered 0.328 of its shares and 2 cents for each Goldcorp share.

“We appreciate Goldcorp shareholders’ vote of confidence, which moves us one step closer to creating the world’s leading gold business,” Newmont chief executive Gary Goldberg said in a statement.

The new company, to be called Newmont Goldcorp, will overtake current market leader Barrick Gold Corp. in annual production, churning out 6 million to 7 million ounces of gold annually over the next 10 years, compared with Barrick’s forecast of 5.1 million to 5.6 million ounces for 2019, Retuers reported.

The $1 billion to $1.5 billion of assets the combined company is expected to shed, combined with mines Barrick plans to sell in the wake of its acquisition of Randgold Resources earlier this year, is expected by analysts to fuel further sector deals.

That is a change from the last several years, when miners focused on cutting costs instead and investors lost confidence in the industry after years of dilutive share issuances and pricey acquisitions.

The vote by Goldcorp shareholders comes after a tense start to the year for the gold industry, sparked by Barrick’s hostile bid for Newmont two months ago, a proposal that would have required the Goldcorp deal be scrapped.

While that was resolved through the creation of a joint venture of Barrick and Newmont’s Nevada assets, Newmont investors raised concerns about Goldcorp receiving too much of the benefits from the joint venture, which the company responded to with an 88-cent special dividend.