BARRICK CEO SAYS INDUSTRY STILL NEEDS TO CONSOLIDATE

Barrick Gold Corp.’s top executive says the gold industry needs more consolidation so it can increase exploration to boost depleting reserves, lure more generalist investors and improve efficiencies. The flurry of deals that characterized the sector in the past two years will likely continue, with miners in Australia already “stamping their mark” on the industry, Chief Executive Officer

Mark Bristow, pictured, said in a virtual South African mining conference. Mergers and acquisitions are likely to dominate the sector in Africa, and are needed in Canada, where the world’s second- largest gold miner is based. “The industry still needs further consolidation,” Bristow said Wednesday. “Canada still needs more work on consolidation.”