Despite rising metal prices, companies haven’t replaced the gold and copper reserves they’ve mined over the past two decades, Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) CEO Mark Bristow said in an interview.
“We’ve relied on rising commodity prices to carry us,” Bristow said last month at the Gold Forum Americas in Colorado Springs. “Mining is a consumptive industry; we mine away our assets daily. To remain sustainable, we must reinvest in our future, not just rely on M&A.”
Bristow said consolidation must add value, not just react to market pressures. He points to the US$6.5 billion Randgold-Barrick merger announced in late 2018 as an example of building lasting, profitable mining businesses rather than seeking “instant gratification.”
At the same time, he addressed speculation that Nevada Gold Mining, Barrick’s 61.5%-owned joint venture with Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM) in the United States, could go public.
“Not while I’m running this organization,” he said, explaining there are too many assets in the industry and not enough competent managers to run them.
Watch the second part below of the interview with The Northern Miner’s western editor, Henry Lazenby.
