WEBVTT - Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow Talks Mining Deals

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>We are here with a number of mining executives, and

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<v Speaker 2>I'm here with Mark Cristo, the CEO of Bear called

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<v Speaker 2>Mark great to get you on set. So I wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to start first with what we're seeing globally and the

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<v Speaker 2>effect that it's having on gold process, record upon record

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<v Speaker 2>upon record. What's your outlook for where Bullian goes from here?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, as you say, Jennifer, everyone's trying very hard

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<v Speaker 1>to push the gold for us up with what we're

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<v Speaker 1>seeing is continuation of d Dollarisasian fueled by the actions

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<v Speaker 1>coming out of Washington and the White House. And on

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<v Speaker 1>top of that, you know, we've got challenges in the UK,

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<v Speaker 1>Europe is not in good place, with the French and

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<v Speaker 1>the Germans, you know, the leaders of the Free world

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<v Speaker 1>all in the crossis, and of course Middle East and

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<v Speaker 1>conflicts in every continent. So you know, gold price has

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<v Speaker 1>got a lot of upside. Still, I always say the

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<v Speaker 1>risk is on the upside and it's very much intact

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<v Speaker 1>that trend.

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<v Speaker 2>How much further do you think it has to go?

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<v Speaker 2>Because some people believe potentially repeaked.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, everyone has been saying that you've seen and

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<v Speaker 1>the equities have been softer than the actual bullion press

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<v Speaker 1>over twenty twenty four. But I don't think so. And certainly,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean there's a lot of a lot of reason

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<v Speaker 1>why the gol pross shouldn't go down, and because it's

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<v Speaker 1>when you try, and if you try and look at

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<v Speaker 1>what it's going to take for us to get back

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<v Speaker 1>to normality in the global economy today, it's not an

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<v Speaker 1>easy task. And I think we've seen, you know, damage

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<v Speaker 1>to the US dollar as a reputational currency, and gold

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<v Speaker 1>has taken that place. And I think what we've also

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<v Speaker 1>seen and a lot of people because I'm sure to

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<v Speaker 1>your next question, you know, bitcoins and all those are

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<v Speaker 1>not stores of value. They are trading instruments. So gold

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<v Speaker 1>has rarely arrived as the ultimate store of value, and

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<v Speaker 1>people are buying the physical. What we've got to do

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<v Speaker 1>in the mining industry is catch up with the price

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<v Speaker 1>of gold.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, and I want to talk about some of the

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<v Speaker 2>trends that we're seeing in the mining industry, one of

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<v Speaker 2>which being M and A. We've seen a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>that potential activity at least starting to happen. Is your

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<v Speaker 2>expectation that that will, hopefully you know, strengthen the mining

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<v Speaker 2>industry and get to some of those goals that you're

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<v Speaker 2>just mentioning there.

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<v Speaker 1>So M and A ready, you know, we need consolidation

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<v Speaker 1>rather than M and A because we've got too many

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<v Speaker 1>companies running too fewer assets, and so you need to consolidate,

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<v Speaker 1>whether it's in the middle, mid tier, bottom tier, or

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<v Speaker 1>the big players. But I think what it's really tagging

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<v Speaker 1>us is as an industry, we haven't invested in our

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<v Speaker 1>future and we're now seeing what we saw back in

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<v Speaker 1>the thirty teens of the century in that we're chasing

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<v Speaker 1>growth inverted commas through acquisition, and we're paying big premiums

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<v Speaker 1>for them and you know, higher goal price makes it

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<v Speaker 1>look good for a moment, but things normalize.

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<v Speaker 2>What does that mean for Barrack's assets then, and especially

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<v Speaker 2>on the African cors.

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<v Speaker 1>All the assets are very valuable, whatever assets you've got,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly if you're in gold and copper today.

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<v Speaker 2>Thing to exit any of the operation definitely not okay.

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<v Speaker 1>No, we constantly look at our core assets because I'm

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<v Speaker 1>very focused on high quality tier one assets, and so

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<v Speaker 1>there's a type and there's a market for those non

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<v Speaker 1>core assets. But we're you know, we've been. We're a

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<v Speaker 1>long term player. We invest heavily in growth, organic growth.

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<v Speaker 1>We are pointing to a thirty increase in production by

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<v Speaker 1>the end of this decade, organic growth at all of

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<v Speaker 1>your operations across the group. And that's going to happen

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<v Speaker 1>without any issuing of shares. In fact, we're buying back shares.

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<v Speaker 2>So when are you going to start playing backshares?

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<v Speaker 1>We have already started?

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<v Speaker 2>Do you plan to continue doing another?

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely? Certainly where the chef RS is sitting at the moment,

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<v Speaker 1>and one of the best investments we can make is

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<v Speaker 1>buy back our own share.

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<v Speaker 2>What do you think where do you think the share

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<v Speaker 2>perce then has to go?

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<v Speaker 1>I think the ship, Well it's got to go up.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, yes, but then what is your calls then for that?

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<v Speaker 1>You know that's the market will judge that. And at

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<v Speaker 1>the end of the day, what we've got and we're

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<v Speaker 1>about to bring out our twenty twenty four results. We

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<v Speaker 1>have one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry.

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<v Speaker 1>We were able to buy back our shares and were

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<v Speaker 1>investing all the time in new opportunities. And more importantly,

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<v Speaker 1>we're about to build out two really big mining projects,

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<v Speaker 1>the expansion in Zambia doubling production, and then the big

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<v Speaker 1>gold and copper asset in Pakistan, which is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the biggest gold and copper minds that haven't been developed

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<v Speaker 1>yet in the world.

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<v Speaker 2>And Mark, I also want to talk to you about

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<v Speaker 2>another one of your operations that's in Mali. There's been

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of focus on what's happening the discussions between

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<v Speaker 2>the Mali and government and also Barrick where what is

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<v Speaker 2>the next shoot to drop? Where are we at right

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<v Speaker 2>now negotiations.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, Jennifer, it's been a very sad time for me.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, I've been in Maley since it was really

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<v Speaker 1>re established as a democracy. And I said, I've worked

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<v Speaker 1>with many, many all the governments since nineteen ninety two,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think we've Mali's got itself in a position where,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's really tried to shake out some short

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<v Speaker 1>term cash out of the industry, and this industry is

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<v Speaker 1>the very foundation of its economy, and I think we

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<v Speaker 1>we need to and so communication, to your point, is

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<v Speaker 1>really important. We are in communication. We are working every

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<v Speaker 1>and were making progress not as fast as I would expected,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'm sure everyone's a little cautious because that's what

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<v Speaker 1>happens when you get on the wrong side of everyone.

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<v Speaker 2>So you haven't agreed to a number to paying back any.

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<v Speaker 1>Of So we haven't reached an agreement on anything yet,

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<v Speaker 1>but we are making progress and I think that's the

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<v Speaker 1>positive of these engagement.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much. We have to leave it there.

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<v Speaker 2>Mark Bristow, the CEO of Barrickle, joining us here at

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<v Speaker 2>Africa Mining and Dava