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Barrick Gold Corporation

Barrick Gold just won a US$5.83B arbitration award, but getting paid may be a different story – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 16, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Collecting such high-value awards is far from simple or guaranteed

The World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes has ordered the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to pay US$5.83 billion to a Barrick Gold Corp. joint venture subsidiary for blocking a mining project nearly a decade ago.

It marks the latest in a string of high-value arbitration awards that Canadian resource companies have won against foreign countries in recent years, although collecting such awards is far from simple or guaranteed.

Barrick, which jointly owns the subsidiary with Chilean copper company Antofogasta Plc, long ago dropped the project from most of its investor materials. On Monday, both companies signalled an interest in settling the matter with Pakistan, which is set to receive billions of dollars in loans from the International Monetary Fund as it struggles to revive its economy.

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Acacia Mining, independent consultant push Barrick Gold to increase takeover offer – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 10, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. has been given more time to table a formal takeover bid for Acacia Mining PLC, as its London-based subsidiary pushes for a materially higher offer.

On Tuesday, just hours before a deadline set by a British takeover panel was set to expire, Barrick was granted a 10-day extension to consider a report by an independent mining consultant that argues Acacia is worth about 38 per cent more than Barrick is willing to pay.

In a release, Acacia said that SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd. has calculated the “preferred” value for Acacia to be 271 pence ($4.45) a share. In May, Toronto-based Barrick said it was willing to pay 0.153 of its own shares for each Acacia share it doesn’t already own, or roughly 197 pence a share.

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Barrick and Newmont Goldcorp launch Nevada Gold Mines (Mining Technology – July 2, 2019)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

Barrick Gold and Newmont Goldcorp have concluded a transaction establishing Nevada Gold Mines. Canadian mining company Barrick Gold will own 61.5% of the new company, while Newmont takes the remaining 38.5%.

The joint venture (JV) assets in North-eastern Nevada comprise ten underground and 12 open pit mines, two autoclave facilities and two roasting facilities. It also consists of four oxide mills, a flotation plant and five heap leach facilities.

Barrick Gold president and CEO Mark Bristow said: “The establishment of Nevada Gold Mines was designed to combine arguably the industry’s best assets and people in order to deliver the best value to stakeholders.

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Barrick doubles down on allegations of overvaluation by Acacia – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 27, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. says its proposal to acquire Acacia Mining PLC is “fair,” and it’s doubling down on claims that its London-based subsidiary has overvalued some of its mines.

In a statement on Wednesday, Barrick said that “certain assumptions made by Acacia in relation to its mine plans are not appropriately risked or supportable and that adjustments should be made.”

Last week, Barrick expressed skepticism about the true value of some of Acacia’s assets, suggesting its own analysis shows that Acacia may be overestimating grade and underestimating costs at some of its mines.

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Acacia Mining says Barrick Gold offer doesn’t fairly value mining company – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 25, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Acacia Mining PLC says Barrick Gold Corp.’s takeover proposal undervalues the company, prompting Acacia to push its biggest shareholder to table a “fair” bid.

Last month, Toronto-based Barrick said it was willing to acquire the 36.1 per cent of London-based Acacia that it doesn’t already own for US$285-million in stock. At the time, the proposal was worth roughly 9 per cent less than Acacia’s market value.

Barrick chief executive Mark Bristow told The Globe and Mail that the discounted proposal was justified because of the inherent risk Acacia presents: It operates three gold mines in Tanzania and is currently subject to a gold concentrate export ban in the East African country.

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Acacia Mining says Barrick offer undervalues the company – by Noor Zainab Hussain and Nichola Saminather (Reuters U.S. – June 24, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Acacia Mining on Monday strongly disagreed with majority shareholder Barrick Gold Corp’s valuation of the company, saying Barrick’s proposal undervalued its life of mine plans and appears to have ignored the value of its exploration and development assets.

However a fair value buyout offer from the world’s No. 2 gold miner would be attractive, it added.

Barrick’s proposal to take full control of its African unit to resolve a long-standing tax dispute with Tanzania has drawn the ire of Acacia’s minority shareholders, who may have the ultimate vote on a deal.

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Reporters investigated abuse and corruption at a Barrick gold mine in Tanzania. They faced threats and censorship – by Marion Guégan and Cécile Schilis-Gallego (Toronto Star – June 19, 2019)

https://www.thestar.com/

In Tanzania, reporters trying to investigate violence, environmental damage and other wrongdoing connected to a gold mine in the north of the country are trapped between the silence of a mining giant and the lies of a repressive government.

At least a dozen reporters — local and international — who wrote about the mine have been censored or threatened. Forbidden Stories, an international consortium of 40 journalists publishing in 30 media organizations around the world, unveiled the shameful history of gold leaving the North Mara gold mine to end up in coveted high tech phones and computers.

This is part of the “Green Blood” series, a project pursuing stories of journalists who have been threatened, jailed or killed while investigating environmental issues.

“Truly innovative products leave their mark on the world instead of the planet,” Apple proudly claims on its website. “We are building a better world for future generations,” says Canon’s CEO. Nokia’s “technology improves lives.”

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Barrick Offers More Talk But Not More Shares for Acacia Stake – by Danielle Bochove and Elena Mazneva (Bloomberg/Yahoo Finance – June 18, 2019)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Barrick Gold Corp.’s CEO has no intention of raising his offer to buy out the rest of troubled African unit Acacia Mining Plc — but he will use the next three weeks to talk.

Barrick said on Tuesday it received a three-week extension to make a formal offer to minority shareholders for the roughly 36% stake in Acacia it doesn’t already own. In a separate statement, Acacia said it’s open to a formal offer, provided the price is fair and its shareholders support the transaction.

“My job is to sit down in the next few weeks and work through it with the minority shareholders,” Barrick Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said by phone Tuesday. Asked if those talks will include an offer for a higher indicative price, he was unequivocal. “No, we’re not,” he said. “We’re not. We would have done that already.”

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Successful gold mining starts with orebody quality says Barrick’s Mark Bristow – by Trish Saywell (Mining.com/Northern Miner – June 11, 2019)

https://www.mining.com/

Mark Bristow, officially installed as president and CEO of Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) on New Year’s Day, sat down with The Northern Miner for a fireside chat at The Northern Miner’s Canadian Mining Symposium at Canada House in London, U.K., on May 22, 2019, to talk about his vision for the company and the gold mining industry more broadly since Barrick’ blockbuster merger with Randgold Resources — the smaller, African-focused gold miner he founded and led until the merger.

The Northern Miner: You’ve been a critic of the gold mining industry for many years. You said it was undisciplined and there was poor return on invested capital, but Randgold Resources was always an outlier. You always focused on the geology; it was always about the orebody.

And your guiding principle was that an orebody had to have at least 3 million ounces of gold and an internal rate of return of 20% at a long term gold price of US$1,000 an ounce. Now that you’re heading up the bigger company, Barrick Gold, with assets all over the world and its own challenges. How do you see that going forward? Do you have your different strategic filters at Barrick than you did at Randgold?

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Gold giants battling to lure back investors who fled industry – by Danielle Bochove and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg/Toronto Star – June 9, 2019)

https://www.thestar.com/

What’s better than GOLD? In the wake of two mega-mergers that have reset the gold industry, one small detail has delighted Mark Bristow, Barrick Gold Corp.’s chief executive officer: his company’s ability to secure the rights to trade its stock under the ticker GOLD in New York.

Barrick and newly merged Newmont Goldcorp Corp. are in a race to lure back generalist investors who fled the gold sector years ago. While Newmont has the advantage of size — it’s bigger by market capitalization and production — having the ticker GOLD certainly can’t hurt in the fight for brand recognition.

“If you want to be relevant in this world, you’ve got to attract a broader base of investors,” Bristow said in a phone interview Thursday. “A combination of the GOLD, and revitalizing the Barrick brand itself, is an exciting thing.”

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Argentina Supreme court upholds glacier protection law (Associated Press/Washington Post – June 4, 2019)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s Supreme Court upheld the country’s glacier protection law Tuesday, rejecting an effort by mining giant Barrick Gold Corp. to have it declared unconstitutional.

The decision was praised by environmentalists and marked a setback for one of the world’s biggest gold miners.

Barrick argued that the 2010 law could affect its projects near glacial areas in Argentina. But the top court said Barrick had not proved that the law curbing mining on and around the country’s glaciers to protect water supplies caused any damage to the company.

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‘The ball is now in Barrick’s court’: Tanzania says Acacia won’t be allowed any role in country – by Ken Karuri and Danielle Bochove (BNN/Bloomberg News – May 28, 2019)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Tanzania will no longer allow Acacia Mining Plc (ABGLF.PK) to manage its mines in the country and will only work with the company’s parent, Barrick Gold Corp. (), to resolve the two-year impasse that has stymied operations, a government spokesman said.

“We will no longer work with Acacia,” Hassan Abbasi said Tuesday by phone. “Under no circumstances can Acacia be a party to the agreements, or have any role in the operation or management of the Barrick mining subsidiaries in Tanzania. The ball is now in Barrick’s court.”

Acacia has been at odds with Tanzania’s government since July 2017, when the state handed the London-listed gold producer a $190 billion tax bill, saying it under-declared bullion exports.

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Study into $1bn Pueblo Viejo expansion to be completed next year – Bristow – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – May 28, 2019)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

The world’s largest gold mining companies are committed to the long-term development of the Dominican Republic and are considering putting up another $1-billion for the expansion of the Pueblo Viejo mine, Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow said on Monday.

Barrick and its joint venture (JV) partner in Pueblo Viejo, Newmont Goldcorp, would next year complete a feasibility study considering the expansion of the processing plant and tailings capacity, as well the potential for a mine life extension to 2030 and beyond.

The proposed capital investment would more than double the contribution the mine has already made to the Dominican Republic, Bristow said in a media statement.

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Barrick CEO Says Nothing Exploitive in Play for Acacia Shares – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – May 27, 2019)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A low-ball proposal by parent Barrick Gold Corp. to buy out Acacia Mining Plc is an “appropriate” and “elegant” solution to a two-year dispute that has devastated the relationship between the global miner and one of its African subsidiaries, Barrick’s CEO says.

Barrick is not prepared to consider raising its bid at this point, Mark Bristow said Friday. He also declined to comment on the reaction his proposal has received from Acacia’s minority shareholders, saying only that he is engaged in regular discussions with Barrick investors, many of whom also hold Acacia shares.

“We’re not trying to exploit any particular situation,” Bristow said in a phone interview from New York. “At the end of the day we do believe it’s a well-considered, fair and proper proposal that should be taken seriously.”

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Barrick proposes low-ball buyout offer for beleaguered Tanzanian subsidiary Acacia – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 23, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Barrick offered a nine per cent discount to the London-listed Acacia’s closing price, valuing it at US$787 million

Earlier this month, Barrick Gold Corp. chief executive Mark Bristow had said his company would consider buying out minority shareholders in its embattled subsidiary, Acacia Mining Plc, but only at the right price.

“The problem is that we are not prepared to overpay for these assets,” Bristow said. On Wednesday, the Toronto gold company made its price clear — proposing a share swap at 0.1533 of a Barrick share for each Acacia share in an offer that values the smaller company at US$787 million.

That’s a nine per cent discount to the London-listed company’s closing price on Tuesday, which comes on top of a 68 per cent decline since 2017 amid an ongoing dispute with Tanzanian authorities, which slapped a US$190 billion tax bill and banned the export of processed metals.

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