(Bloomberg) — Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s No. 2 bullion producer, is looking for investment opportunities in Canada as prices for the precious metal push higher.
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Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said he’s cautious about embarking on major deals but is keeping an eye out for opportunities in the company’s home country to buy or build a mining project.
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“It’s a good jurisdiction to invest in, and if there’s one place we look all the time, it’s Canada,” Bristow said during an interview in Toronto on Monday. “Would we like more Canadian exposure? Of course.”
Barrick shares surged as much as 9.5% on Monday, its biggest intraday jump since 2020, after the company posted second-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. Gold also rose.
Soaring gold prices are driving producers to seek expansion through takeovers in stable jurisdictions. Gold Fields Ltd.’s $1.6 billion deal to buy Canada’s Osisko Mining Inc., announced on Monday, gives the Johannesburg-listed company full control of a major gold Canadian gold project and a chance to diversify away from South Africa.
Unlike competitors Newmont Corp. and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. — which completed major takeovers in the past two years — Toronto-based Barrick has refrained from transformational dealmaking since its acquisition of Randgold Resources in 2019. The firm has instead focused on expansion projects at its existing assets and developing a major copper-gold project in Pakistan.
“We’re very cautious on doing big M&A transactions,” Bristow told Bloomberg Television. “What we’re showing is that we’ve got lots to deliver on the transaction we did five years ago.”
–With assistance from Matthew Miller.
(Updates share gain in fourth paragraph.)
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