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InDABA ReVIeW

Africa integral to Barrick’s

future: Bristow

s the in-demand Mark Bristow made
Ahis way through the aisles of the
Cape Town International Convention
Centre at last year’s Mining Indaba, he
found himself being asked the same im-
posing question.
Would his African-focused Randgold
model work on Barrick Gold Corp’s glob-
al scale?
At the time, Barrick’s merger with
Randgold Resources was barely a month
old and the 2019 Mining Indaba was Bris-
tow’s first major appearance as chief ex-
ecutive of the combined entity.
Twelve months on and armed with a
set of full-year results to reflect upon,
Bristow is confident he can now accu-
rately answer that question.
“The merger has been enormously
successful by any measure,” Bristow
said.
“We established a model for a modern
mining company – lean, agile, efficient,
future-focused and socially conscious –
and it is no accident the merger has trig-
gered a series of fresh industry transac-
tions aimed at value creation.
“We delivered on every single promise
and we’re well on the way to our goal of
becoming the world’s most valued gold
company in every respect.” having a life longer than 10 years with an- Mark Bristow
In the 12 months since the merger was nual production in excess of 500,000oz
completed, Barrick’s share price has and a total cash cost per ounce in the the lingering readiness of both parties to
jumped 79% and outperformed many of bottom half of the industry curve.” sacrifice profitability for short-term gains.
its peer companies, the indices and the Prior to this year’s Mining Indaba, Bar- “I think it’s also fair to say that the in-
spot gold price. rick and the Government of Tanzania for- dustry and its investors still have some
Among the key highlights for Barrick malised a JV which is intended to give way to go in adapting itself to the ex-
during that past year were the forma- the latter “full visibility of and participa- pectations and demands of a changing
tion of the Nevada JV with Newmont tion in operational decisions made from world, not least by creating catch-up op-
Corp, the acquisition of the troubled and by the North Mara, Bulyanhulu and portunities for societies that have been
Acacia Mining vehicle in Tanzania and Buzwagi mines”. left behind in emerging countries.
the divestment of its 50% interest in the While Bristow did not discuss Tanza- “If Africa is going to take its rightful
Kalgoorlie Super Pit. nia specifically during his formal pres- place in the global economy stakes, it
Barrick is also in the process of off- entation to Mining Indaba delegates, needs genuine long-term international
loading its 90% interest in the Massawa he made it clear to all that mining com- investment and expertise to develop its
gold project – a Randgold legacy asset – panies and African host governments mining sector and realise its human and
in Senegal to Teranga Gold Corp for a to- needed to find common ground if the full natural resource endowment. The global
tal consideration of up to $US430 million. value of the continent’s mineral wealth is economy needs successful emerging
“In order to be an industry leader, you to be realised. markets and new growth engines, work-
should also be able to project a robust “Despite the fool’s gold glitter of re- ing together towards the same mutually
production profile well into the future,” source nationalism, some of the major beneficial goals.
Bristow said. mining countries in Africa are starting to “It’s absolutely imperative for Africa to
“There’s a consensus that the global see the merit in reaching out to partner play a meaningful role as an emerging
gold supply is peaking and even assum- with investors and managers to make the market destination.”
ing that all the projects currently being most of their mineral wealth,” he said. – Michael Washbourne
planned come to fruition, it’s downhill “Unfortunately, however, some ten-
from there. Hence, Barrick’s strategic fo- dencies have not yet changed, or at least
cus on Tier 1 mines, which we define as not sufficiently. Most notable of these is

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