Mark Bristow, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrick Gold Corporation, speaks at The Globe and Mail offices on May 2.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Barrick Gold Corp. ABX-T chief executive officer Mark Bristow is raising the possibility that he may retire in 2026.
Mr. Bristow took over as CEO in 2019 after Toronto-based Barrick acquired Randgold Resources Ltd., the Africa-focused mining company he founded and ran for about two decades.
Hard-nosed, detail-oriented and outspoken, the South African is one of the most driven executives in the mining industry. At Barrick, he has stickhandled multiple difficult situations, including patching up multiyear mining contract spats with the governments of Tanzania and Papua New Guinea. He orchestrated a joint-venture agreement in Nevada with arch-competitor Newmont Corp. NGT-T, something his predecessors had tried and failed to do on several occasions. Most recently, he rolled out a management restructuring at the company’s Nevada operations.
In an interview at Barrick’s headquarters in Toronto earlier this week, Mr. Bristow outlined three key projects that are set to be rolled out in 2028: a major expansion of its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, the ramp-up of Goldrush in Nevada and the commissioning of the first phase of Reko Diq.
While he stressed that investors want comfort that Reko Diq, situated in high-risk Pakistan, is on track, there’s no guarantee he’ll still be in the job in 2028.
“I think that’s on the outside end of my [tenure], because there is also a natural transition that happens in companies,” the 65-year-old Mr. Bristow said.
When pressed for more details about his exit, he suggested that he’ll stay in the job through 2025 but was non-committal about 2026. When asked if he could see himself stepping down at that time, he replied, “Maybe, I don’t know. I feel that these things come naturally. The last thing you want to do is stay on when you’re not needed.”
For the time being, Mr. Bristow said he has plenty of energy to do the job, and added that if he didn’t, people would catch on fast, given that it is so demanding.
He maintains a rigorous exercise routine, working out for up to an hour, six days a week at a minimum, be it hitting the gym or riding his road bike. “I wake up wide awake in the mornings, and I have a good night’s sleep. I go to bed at a reasonable time. I still, you know, I will cycle to the top of the Grand Teton pass.”
A challenging ride at altitude, cyclists riding up Grand Teton in Wyoming generally gain about 760 metres in elevation.
Over the past few years, Barrick has already seen some change in the executive ranks, with John Thornton moving from executive chairman to chairman, a position that holds considerably less power.
When he does leave Barrick, Mr. Bristow indicated that he wants a clean break, and said he has no interest in becoming either executive chairman or chairman, a path that former CEOs at other companies have chosen, including Sean Boyd at Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.
Barrick, unlike Agnico and Newmont, has been extremely gun shy about making acquisitions since the Randgold deal. One of the big reasons Barrick has sat on the sidelines is that Mr. Bristow is opposed to paying large premiums in mergers and acquisitions, something that proved ruinous for the industry in the mid to late 2000s. While Barrick paid no premium to buy Randgold, and several other deals in the sector were executed at similarly nil premium levels around that time, large premium deals are once again emerging in the industry.
South Africa’s Gold Fields Ltd. GFI-N earlier this week reached an agreement with Canada’s Osisko Mining Inc. OSK-T to acquire it at a 66-per-cent premium to its market price. Gold Fields chief executive Mike Fraser said the fat premium was necessary in part to fend off other bidders.
Mr. Bristow was critical not only of the Gold Fields transaction, but other recent deals where large premiums have been offered, including BHP Group Ltd.’s BHPLF unsuccessful attempted takeover of Anglo American PLC NGLOY, and its current offer for Filo Corp. FIL-T.
“These are all big premiums at very high commodity prices,” he said.
During his tenure, Mr. Bristow has largely focused on growing Barrick’s business from within, and broadening the company’s exposure to copper, a critical mineral.