Barrick looks to new territories in hunt for quality assets 

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: Gold) is looking for fresh opportunities to expand its presence in the globe, the company’s CEO Mark Bristow said in the company’s annual report published today.  

The new frontiers include the Nubia and Arabian Shields in North Africa, the Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan. Bristow also said that he believed the company had underinvested in Canada and was looking to grow its business in the country, adding that a “significant exploration portfolio” had been secured in the country’s Uchi belt. 

“We are increasing our global footprint as the hunt for high quality assets extends into new prospective areas,” Bristow said in the annual report.  

The company’s business is built on its six tier one gold mines ,which generates majority of the company’s cash flow. Most of Barrick’s projects are located in the Americas, with a strong presence in east and central Africa.  

Bristow said that the company’s Asia-Pacific team had acquired exploration permits in Japan and was looking to “hunt” for more opportunities in the region. It’s also testing a series of targets on the El Indio belt along the border of Argentina and Chile.  

The company received a “draft mineral exploitation” permit in Egypt, while it’s looking to revive the Reko Diq project in Pakistan, which according to Barrick, sits on top of the world’s “largest underdeveloped copper and gold deposit.  

“This project (in Pakistan) stalled when the provincial government refused to grant it a mining licence. An arbitration court subsequently awarded our partners and us significant damages,” said Bristow.  

Barrick runs the Reko Diq project along with Chile’s Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) through the subsidiary Tethyan Copper Company Pakistan.  

With regards to its labour force, the company said that its drive to employ the next generation remained steady, with 56% of its workforce under the age of 40 and 19% under 30.