Barrick hopes for limitless energy, a fresh vision from CEO

Miner’s new leader is considered an outsider for his sharp criticisms of the gold industry

LONDON— For more than two decades, Mark Bristow has been a thorn in the side of Barrick Gold Corp. Now he’s its closest partner.

The 59-year-old South African will take the role of chief executive officer at Barrick after the Canadian company inked a $5.4-billion deal to buy out Randgold Resources Ltd. It’s a bigger stage for Bristow, known as an outsider for his sharp and frequent criticisms of the gold industry and a genius at running an African mine.

Bristow’s personality looms large. He’s fond of cigars and big-game hunts, as well as motocross expeditions across Africa. He’s been known to use his pilot license to fly investors directly to African mines via his private plane, and run Randgold from top to bottom, often personally handling its investor and media communications.

That’s the limitless energy and fresh perspective that Barrick needs, said Hunter Hillcoat, an analyst at Investec Securities Ltd. The Canadian company, led by executive chair John Thornton, has lost about 70 per cent of its value in the past decade. Bristow is “a big, largerthan-life, alpha-male personality, who’s going to have to go in and see what he can do,” Hillcoat said by phone. “He’s going to be given a large amount of free rein.”

Randgold has been one of the U.K.’s great corporate success stories, delivering a 4,000 per cent return since the end of 1999 — making it the best stock in the FTSE 100 Index. It has never reported a quarterly loss and never taken a write down. In an industry dependent on the volatile price of bullion, it’s a remarkable feat that none of its rivals can match.

Despite Randgold’s stellar record, the last few years have been difficult. The company, famous for its exploration success, struggled to find new projects. It hasn’t managed to buy any new mines and faces tougher regulation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The stock is down more than 30 per cent this year.

AKOS STILLER BLOOMBERG Randgold has been one of the U.K.’s great corporate success stories, delivering a 4,000 per cent return since the end of 1999 — making it the best stock in the FTSE 100 Index.