Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) shares are the biggest gainers of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) on Tuesday.

The Gold Road Resources share price leapt 15.5% to an all-time record high of $2.83 in earlier trading.

Gold Road shares are now trading for $2.80, up 14.3%. Meantime, the ASX 200 is up 0.5%.

Let's find out why Gold Road shares are outshining every other ASX 200 stock today.

Gold Road shares hit record high after miner rejects takeover bid

Last night, Gold Road Resources announced it had rejected a $3.3 billion takeover offer from South Africa's Gold Fields Ltd (JSE: GFI).

Gold Road and Gold Fields are 50:50 joint venture owners of the Gruyere gold mine in Western Australia's Goldfields region.

As we reported earlier, Gold Fields offered to acquire 100% of Gold Road shares for $3.05 per share in cash on 7 March.

The offer comprised a fixed portion of $2.27 per Gold Road share plus a variable portion for the miner's stake in De Grey Mining Ltd (ASX: DEG). Gold Road is De Grey's biggest shareholder.

Gold Fields is the operator of the Gruyere mine and wants to take full ownership in line with its strategy to improve its project portfolio.

The Gold Road board said it had considered the offer and rejected it on 14 March.

Why did the miner reject the offer?

Gold Road described the offer as "highly opportunistic in nature", given it followed lower March quarter production due to maintenance.

It also came ahead of the completion of an 18-month drilling program to fully understand the potential underground expansion of Gruyere.

Gold Road said:

The Offer attributes no value at all to the potential underground expansion of the Gruyere mine.

As such, the Gold Road Board formed the view that it is not in the best interest of its shareholders to accept the Offer and rejected the Offer on 14 March 2025.

In rejecting the offer, Gold Road counteroffered to buy Gold Fields' 50% stake in the joint venture instead, but Gold Fields rejected the idea.

Gold Fields CEO Mike Fraser said:

We believe our proposal represents a compelling opportunity for Gold Road shareholders to realise an attractive and certain cash price for their investment.

Fraser added:

Gold Fields will continue to seek the engagement of the Gold Road board to consider the merits of the proposed acquisition and to advance the proposal.

ASX gold shares in the green

ASX gold shares are having a day in the green today.

The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) is currently up 0.47%.

The gold price is currently US$3,011, up 0.05%.

According to Trading Economics, the gold price is holding close to record levels due to its safe-haven appeal.

Among the ASX 200 large-cap gold shares, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares are down 0.5% to $17.88.

Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) shares are up 0.5% to $6.89.

Among the mid-caps, Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX: WGX) shares are up 0.2% to $2.90.

Regis Resources Ltd (ASX: RRL) shares are up 0.4% to $3.71.

West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) shares are down 0.9% to $2.19.

Emerald Resources NL (ASX: EMR) shares are down 0.3% to $3.84.