Barrick strategic reset and deal push: portfolio implications for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Barrick Mining is pivoting back to acquisitions and retreating from higher‑risk regions after 2025 gold output fell 17% to 3.26 million ounces, its lowest level in at least 25 years, and after the seizure of a key Mali mine and rising costs at the Reko Diq copper project in Pakistan. Chairman John Thornton said Barrick will prioritise “tier one” long-life, low-cost assets and plans to list a new vehicle by end‑2026 holding its Nevada joint venture, the Fourmile discovery and the Pueblo Viejo mine.
Technical Brief
- New listed vehicle will bundle the Nevada JV, Fourmile discovery and Pueblo Viejo by end‑2026.
- Nevada joint venture structure and governance will be central, given the ongoing Newmont–Barrick rift.
- Fourmile is being positioned as a growth discovery, likely feeding into the Nevada complex development pipeline.
- Pueblo Viejo in Dominican Republic anchors the spin‑off with a large, established open‑pit gold operation.
- Barrick’s last completed major corporate transaction was the 2019 merger with Randgold Resources.
- Two separate approaches to acquire First Quantum Minerals in 2023 and 2024 were explored but abandoned.
- Reko Diq copper project in Pakistan now faces rising capital costs and security‑driven schedule risk, curbing expansion plans.
Our Take
The planned 17% output drop to 3.26Moz by 2025, combined with the proposed North American spin-out of Nevada Gold Mines and Pueblo Viejo flagged in our February 2026 coverage, suggests Barrick is deliberately trading near-term production scale for portfolio optionality and re-rating potential on core copper-gold growth assets.
Repeated schedule and capex pressure at the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan, highlighted in our March–April 2026 items, makes the parallel interest in a US lithium miner and USA Rare Earth–Carester chain strategically significant, as it diversifies Barrick’s growth pipeline away from a single high-risk jurisdiction in Asia.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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