Barrick to lay off 30% of its office staff

Barrick Gold Corp. will lay off about 30% of corporate staff at its headquarters in Toronto and in other offices in a downsizing plan triggered by problems at major mines and a drop in the price of gold. Barrick and rival gold miners such as Newmont Mining and Newcrest Mining are shaking up operations, halting projects, slashing exploration spending and cutting jobs as the industry struggles with high costs and weak metal prices. Barrick, the world’s largest gold producer, confirmed on Monday a news report that the layoffs were coming and said the cuts were part of an effort to “streamline the organization and manage costs in a challenging business environment.”

Barrick said it is eliminating about 100 office positions, most of them at its home base in Toronto. The company will also cut jobs at a number of its regional offices as part of a companywide effort. Chief executive Jamie Sokalsky announced the cuts at a town-hall meeting with staff in Toronto last week, sources familiar with the situation said. The sources, who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak about the matter, said the cuts in Toronto were to begin on Monday and will be completed before the end of the week. Cuts in Vancouver and other offices could drag into July.

Barrick has about 400 corporate staff, about 300 of them in Toronto. The sources said Mr. Sokalsky, a longtime Barrick hand who took over as CeO barely a year ago, was visibly emotional during the mid-week town hall meeting with employees.

He declined to take questions and informed staff that their direct managers would respond to their questions. Shares in Barrick, which have more than halved in value over the course of the last year, fell 1.89% at $16.57 early on Monday as the price of gold fell about 1% following last week’s 7% decline.

Spot gold, which peaked at more than uS$1,900 an ounce in late 2011, was trading at uS$1,285 an ounce on Monday, not far from a near three-year low touched last week.