March 12 (Reuters) - Newcrest Mining Ltd (NCM) , Australia's...

March 12 (Reuters) - Newcrest Mining Ltd (NCM) , Australia's top gold miner, on Tuesday said it had signed an exploration farm-in agreement for a joint venture with London-listed Greatland Gold Plc GGPL.L on their Havieron tenement in Western Australia's Paterson province.

Newcrest, which will maintain a majority interest in the JV, will be the manager of the programme during the farm-in period with the option to earn up to a 70 percent stake through total expenditure of $65 million over a six-year period, the company said in a statement.