Barrick cut ties with former CEO Mark Bristow in September after years of underperformance and a poor safety record.Bloomberg/Barrick Gold Corp.
Barrick Mining Corp. B-N interim chief executive officer Mark Hill says the big Canadian gold miner is shifting its focus increasingly toward North America, and he is vowing to improve the company’s poor safety record.
Toronto-based Barrick cut ties with its former long-time CEO Mark Bristow in late September after years of underperformance and a slew of accidents at its mines.
The company on Monday said that three employees died following industrial accidents this year. A worker at its Goldrush underground mine in Nevada was killed while operating a loader in a stope. An employee was killed underground at its Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania and a worker died after sustaining injuries at the Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In addition to the deaths this year, Barrick reported three fatalities in 2024, five in 2023, five in 2022, two in 2021 and one in 2020. The company’s record is far worse than competitors such as Newmont Corp. NEM-N and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. AEM-T
Inside the power struggle at Barrick that led to the ouster of CEO Mark Bristow
“We need a complete reset on the culture and the behaviour,” Mr. Hill said about Barrick’s safety problems in an interview on Monday, following the release of its third-quarter earnings.
“When you get the safety right, it normally means that everything else falls into place,” he added. “If you have bad safety, it normally causes other issues throughout the organization.”
Mr. Hill, who was formerly head of Barrick’s Latin America and Asia Pacific region, took over from Mr. Bristow on a temporary basis while the company searches for a permanent replacement. Mr. Hill, who has been at Barrick since 2006, worked alongside Mr. Bristow for years and characterized his exit as “sudden and unexpected.”
The Globe and Mail reported last month that Mr. Bristow’s departure came after years of friction with John Thornton, Barrick’s chairman. Mr. Thornton was not happy with Barrick consistently missing its production forecast, Mr. Bristow’s reticence to pull the trigger on several lucrative merger and acquisitions opportunities, and the company’s protracted struggles in Mali, The Globe reported.
As Barrick searches for a new CEO, there has been some speculation that Newmont might attempt a takeover of the company. Bloomberg recently reported that the Colorado-based miner was weighing several options, including possibly acquiring Barrick’s share of their joint venture in Nevada, or acquiring Barrick outright.
Mr. Hill said a sale of Barrick’s interest in Nevada Gold Mines to Newmont is out of the question.
“The future growth and the opportunity is in Nevada. So the answer from my point of view is ‘no,’” he said.
NGM was created in 2019, and encompasses giant mines such as Cortez, Carlin and Turquoise Ridge. Barrick is the operator of the JV and it owns a 61.5-per-cent share with Newmont holding 38.5 per cent.
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Mr. Hill also signalled that being acquired by Newmont is not something the company would welcome either. Barrick is zeroed in on improving its performance in Nevada, which has suffered operational setbacks at its Carlin site.
“We can’t keep having things go wrong unexpectedly like we had in Carlin,” he said in a conference call with analysts on Monday.
When asked how his strategy will be different from Mr. Bristow’s, he said there will be more focus put on North America, which he pointed out is a low-risk jurisdiction.
For years Barrick’s shares have traded at a discount to its peers in large part because of its heavy exposure to risky jurisdictions such as Tanzania, Papua New Guinea and Mali.
After falling out with the military leadership in Mali, Barrick earlier this year lost control of its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex, which used to account for about 15 per cent of its production. Relations between the company and the government of Mali deteriorated to such an extent that four of its employees were imprisoned in the country, and an arrest warrant was issued for Mr. Bristow.
Some analysts have argued that Barrick would be worth more if it split itself in two, with one part holding its safe North American operations and the other part containing the company’s riskier assets, such as its operations in Africa and its project in Pakistan.
But Mr. Hill downplayed this option.
“It’s certainly not something I’m focused on,” he said.