Here’s a question: What do you do when your stock jumps 198% in a year, your CEO suddenly exits, an activist investor shows up at your door, and one of your biggest mines gets seized by a foreign government?
If you’re Barrick Mining, apparently, you just keep digging.
The setup
Let’s rewind to early 2024. Barrick Mining was the mining world’s equivalent of that friend who has incredible potential but keeps making questionable life choices. Sure, they had world-class gold mines. Yes, they were the second-largest gold producer globally. But they also had operations scattered from Papua New Guinea to Zambia to Pakistan, and the market wasn’t impressed.
The problem? When you’re mining gold everywhere from Nevada to Mali, investors start treating you like a geopolitical risk fund rather than a focused gold play. And that’s exactly what happened. Barrick’s stock traded at a hefty discount compared to peers like Agnico Eagle.
Then gold prices started their historic rally. And Barrick? Well, they decided it was time to get their act together.
The drama unfolds
September 2025 brought the first bombshell: CEO Mark Bristow suddenly departed. Not the gentle “pursuing other opportunities” kind of departure. The abrupt, board-led, something-happened-here kind.
Within weeks, Elliott Management (the activist investor known for shaking up underperforming companies) had quietly built a large stake. Message received: change was coming whether Barrick liked it or not.
But here’s where the story gets interesting. Instead of circling the wagons, Barrick’s board, led by chair John Thornton, actually started listening. They began examining radical options, including (gasp) breaking up the company.
The mali situation
Meanwhile, Barrick was dealing with a genuine crisis. Their Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali (which produced 723,000 ounces of gold annually) had been shut down. Four employees were in jail. The Malian military government had seized 3 metric tons of gold (worth about $400 million) via military helicopter. You can’t make this stuff up.
For two years, this dispute dragged on, casting a shadow over Barrick’s entire operation. Investors hate uncertainty, and few things scream uncertainty like “military helicopter seizes your gold.”
Then, last month, breakthrough. Barrick reached a comprehensive settlement: $430 million to Mali, employees released, operational control restored, permits renewed for 10 years. The gold returned. Operations resumed.
The big pivot
But the real strategic masterstroke came next: Barrick announced plans to IPO its North American assets.
Think about it. Barrick’s Nevada and Dominican Republic operations (representing 53% of total gold production) are Tier One assets in stable jurisdictions. Nevada Gold Mines is a joint venture with Newmont. They recently discovered Fourmile in Nevada, which management calls “this century’s most significant gold discovery.”
These premium assets were being valued at the same discount multiple as the company’s riskier international operations. It’s like owning a Ferrari and a Honda Civic but selling them both for the average price.
The IPO strategy is elegant: list a “small minority interest” in a new entity holding these crown jewels, while keeping majority control. Let the market value these assets at premium multiples (the kind pure North American gold miners typically command). Unlock value without losing control.
The numbers don’t lie
Q3 2025 showed why this matters. Revenues up 23% year-over-year. Net earnings of $1.3 billion (more than double the previous year). Operating cash flow hit $2.4 billion, the highest in over a decade. Free cash flow reached $1.5 billion, up 233%.
The company increased dividends by 25% and announced a $1.5 billion buyback program. All this while operating with essentially no net debt.
Yet Barrick still trades at an EV/EBITDA of just 8.2x (below industry average) despite growth rates well above peers.
The bottom line
Barrick’s 198% rally isn’t just about gold prices hitting records. It’s about a company finally getting serious about value creation: resolving festering problems (Mali), focusing on premium assets (North America IPO), and responding to activist pressure with actual strategic changes.
The market is betting that Barrick version 2.0 (more focused, better managed, risk-reduced) deserves a higher valuation. And with gold staying firm, margins expanding, and a potential re-rating from the IPO ahead, this might be one mining story that’s still got another chapter left to write.
Sonia Boolchandani is a seasoned financial writer She has written for prominent firms like Vested Finance, and Finology, where she has crafted content that simplifies complex financial concepts for diverse audiences.
Disclosure: The writer and her his dependents do not hold the stocks discussed in this article.
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