Barrick likely to seek Chinese help

Barrick Gold might slash 400 middle management jobs and involve Chinese partners in its troubled Tanzanian operations, executive chair John Thornton said.

Barrick Gold may slash 400 jobs and involve Chinese partners in its troubled Tanzanian operations, executive chair John Thornton told the Globe and Mail newspaper.

The Toronto-based company has slashed middle management by half to about 700 and “we want to get it down to 300”, Thornton told the Globe in London. The former Goldman Sachs Group executive wants a leaner, entrepreneurial partnership — more like the early days under late founder Peter Munk, the Globe said.

Thornton said there is “an almost 100%” chance Chinese partners will get involved in Barrick’s projects in Tanzania, which are operated through its 64% stake in Acacia Mining.

Acacia has plummeted 84% since its high in 2016 amid disputes with the government, which imposed a ban on exports of mineral concentrates last year and slapped the miner with a $190bn tax bill. The Acacia mines have never paid income tax to the Tanzanian government, which wants a new deal, Thornton told the Globe.

Chinese companies can bring capital, technical expertise and, above all, political connections in Africa and Latin America that North American miners cannot match, he told the Globe.

“It’s one thing to be a Canadian company. It’s another to have China as your partner,” he said. “If I know one thing, I know this is right: we have the thinnest talent in the most difficult areas and we can’t develop all these projects alone.”