Elliott’s activism could drive upside as Barrick Mining hunts for new CEO
Attendees speak with representatives at the Barrick booth at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) annual mining conference on March 3, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Carlos Osorio | Reuters
Company: Barrick Mining (B)
Business: Barrick MiningFormerly Barrick Gold Corporation, is a gold and copper producer engaged in the production and sale of gold and copper, as well as related activities such as exploration and mine development. There are property rights in producing gold mines in Argentina, Canada, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania and the United States. Copper mines are in Zambia, Chile and Saudi Arabia. Its operations include Nevada Gold Mines, Bulyanhulu, Hemlo, Jabal Sayid, Kibali, Loulo-Gounkoto, Lumwana, North Mara, Porgera, Pueblo Viejo, Tongon, Veladero and Zaldivar. The Bulyanhulu operation is located in northwestern Tanzania, 55 kilometers south of Lake Victoria and 150 kilometers southwest of Mwanza city. The Jabal Sayid copper mine is located 350 km northeast of Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Lumwana copper mine is a traditional open pit operation.
Stock Market Value: $69.16 billion ($40.38 per share)
Barrick Mining shares its shares since the beginning of the year
Activist: Elliott Investment Management
Ownership: no
Average Cost: no
Activist Comment: Elliott is a multi-strategy investment firm managing approximately $76.1 billion in assets (as of June 30, 2025) and is one of the oldest firms of its kind under continuous management. Known for its extensive due diligence and resources, Elliott regularly monitors companies for years before investing. Elliott is the most active among activist investors, engaging with companies across industries and geographies.
what’s going on
On November 18, Elliott announced a position in Barrick Mining, expressing interest in seeing the potential separation of North American assets from mines in riskier regions in Asia and Africa. Most recently, on December 1, Barrick announced that its board of directors had authorized the company to explore the potential separation of its North American assets.
behind the scenes
Barrick Mining is a Toronto-based global mining company focusing primarily on gold, operating 14 gold mines and three additional copper mines. The core of this business is the North American Gold assets, which consist of some of the world’s finest deposits, particularly the Nevada Gold Mines. Newmont Barrick owns a 61.5% stake and serves as its operator. The company also operates gold mines in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. Its copper portfolio is concentrated in Africa and the Middle East, including Reko Diq, a new copper development project in Pakistan.
With the recent bull market in gold, Barrick’s shares have more than doubled in the last six months. Despite this, Barrick continues to trade at 0.9 times its price to net asset value ratio; That’s a significant discount to best-in-class North American peers like Agnico Eagle, which trade at around 1.5x.
Investors primarily buy gold companies to gain exposure to gold prices, and from there, they choose companies that operate the companies most efficiently and have the best management teams in order to best isolate the value of the commodity. Barrick wasn’t one of the top operators among its peers, and as a result they abruptly parted ways with their CEO in September and replaced him with former COO Mark Hill as interim CEO.
An interim CEO creates two invaluable opportunities for an activist at a company like Barrick. First and foremost, they have a say in who the new CEO will be, whether they sign on with the company for a board seat or remain an outspoken shareholder. While they may not always be in the room when discussions are taking place or decisions are being made, we don’t know of any CEO who would accept a job at a company where an activist like Elliott worked unless they knew Elliott approved the hire.
Second, if a company has an interim CEO, it is an advantageous time to explore strategic alternatives, and the breakup of that company has always been the elephant in the room.
Barrick’s North American operations have been tarnished by the company’s exposure to high-risk regions, and separating the two could go a long way to closing the valuation gap with Barrick. Agnico Eagle.
The value proposition of a breakup is clear and even something management is discussing. In a presentation released in May, management showed that a peer-to-peer multiple application to Barrick’s North American assets could have exposed up to 49% of unrealized value. Since then, the price of gold has gained over 70%, but the company’s shares have gained over 100%; so most of that gain has been realized, but there is still some value to be gained from a breakup.
Elliott has a history of taking board seats at companies not for activist sake, but only when they think the director they appoint to the board can actually add value to shareholders. In this case, breaking up the company is something the board is seriously considering, and Elliott, by virtue of his presence, is likely to have at least negative approval authority over the new CEO.
Moreover, Elliott is not hasty in his activism. They’ve probably had a position in Barrick for months at this point and have already made a big return from the company’s 100% appreciation in the last six months. We cannot expect them to increase their activism here unless the board takes a path they do not expect and agree with, or unless they join the board at the company’s invitation to help with the tasks ahead.
Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, a corporate research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, an investment fund that invests in a portfolio of activist investments.
