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Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) (Barrick or the “company”) today announced that Rob Krcmarov, currently Senior Vice President, Global Exploration, has been elevated to the position of Executive Vice President, Exploration and Growth, and will become a member of Barrick’s Executive Committee, a group of the company’s most senior partners.
Mr. Krcmarov is a seasoned mining industry leader with nearly 30 years of experience in geology and exploration. For the past 10 years, he has led a global team of geoscientists and exploration professionals at Barrick who are responsible for the discovery of a number of the largest gold deposits in recent decades, including Lagunas Norte and Goldrush, in addition to Alturas, an equally promising new discovery in Chile. Mr. Krcmarov joined Barrick in 2001 with the merger of Homestake Mining Company and was appointed Vice President, Global Exploration in 2005. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree from the University of Adelaide and a Master’s degree in Economic Geology from the University of Tasmania.
In conjunction with the release of the company’s 2015 year-end results, we outlined a base case for our business that involves the pursuit of three strategic goals over the next five years. The first is a profound commitment to the idea that in the 21st century, our core business is building partnerships of real depth and trust with host governments, local communities, NGOs, indigenous people, and others. The second goal is to produce the leading margins in the industry by operating in a way that is gold-price agnostic, such that we can generate and grow free cash flow per share in virtually any foreseeable gold price environment. The third goal is superior portfolio management that prioritizes growing free cash flow over growing ounces.
Planning for and managing this future growth is critical. Achieving it relies on many groups working together, including Mine Exploration, Global Exploration, Business Development, our Reserves and Resources team, and Finance. It also requires close collaboration with our General Managers and Executive Directors. To support this effort, we are creating a new Growth Committee at the most senior levels of the company. Serving on this committee will be Rob Krcmarov, Kevin Thomson, Senior Executive Vice President, Strategic Matters, and Catherine Raw, who will become Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer immediately following the company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders on April 26.
The Growth Committee will evaluate strategies to optimize the development of our existing reserves and resources while adding new resources through exploration. It will also play a central role in assessing external acquisitions and earn-in opportunities, all with the objective of growing free cash flow per share over the long-term. The Committee will serve as a central clearing house to ensure strategic alignment and appropriate coordination of all major growth initiatives across the company.
