BARRICK Gold CEO Mark Bristow has described an article in Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail reporting that he “raised the possibility he may retire in 2026” as “absolute bullshit”.
Bristow told Miningmx his intention was to stay with Barrick until at least 2028 to oversee delivery of the key major expansions at the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia and the Reko Diq copper/gold project in Pakistan.
“I have no idea where the Globe and Mail got 2026 from. I did not mention it in the interview,” Bristow commented.
The Globe and Mail article must have raised eyebrows amongst those who know Bristow well and also amongst major Barrick shareholders given the prospect that Bristow might step down before completion of Lumwana and Reko Diq.
Bristow is notoriously touchy on the subject of retirement because he’s a workaholic and totally committed to running and making a success of Barrick as he was when running Randgold Resources before it merged with Barrick.
Asked by Miningmx a few years back about retirement Bristow replied “this is my life” and pointedly inquired when this correspondent – who is several years older than Bristow – intended retiring.
Bristow commented: “When the Globe and Mail asked me when was I leaving my answer was that I had not even got my head around that yet. I went on to say that in a big organisation there is a time to go but that’s not today and that’s the horizon – 2028.
“When the time to go comes you don’t want to overstay your welcome but at this stage there’s nothing like that. And that’s where I finished off. I don’t know where he sucked the 2026 from because I did not say that.”
Bristow said key Barrick shareholders and key stakeholders had indicated they would like him to “at least see through to 2028 and that makes sense because it involves two big assets coming into production on the same year and there is a jurisdiction risk.
“There is no formal agreement in place but my intention is to see it through to 2028.”
