Barrick Gold Corp. Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

Barrick is a corporation governed by the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) resulting from the amalgamation, effective July 14, 1984, of Camflo Mines Limited, Bob-Clare Investments Limited and the former Barrick Resources Corporation. By articles of amendment effective December 9, 1985, the Company changed its name to American Barrick Resources Corporation. Effective January 1, 1995, as a result of an amalgamation with a wholly-owned subsidiary, the Company changed its name from American Barrick Resources Corporation to Barrick Gold Corporation. On December 7, 2001, in connection with its acquisition of Homestake Mining Company (“Homestake”), the Company amended its articles to create a special voting share, which has special voting rights designed to permit holders of Barrick Gold Inc. (formerly Homestake Canada Inc.) (“BGI”) exchangeable shares to vote as a single class with the holders of Barrick common shares. In March 2009, in connection with Barrick’s redemption of all of the outstanding BGI exchangeable shares, the single outstanding special voting share was redeemed and cancelled. In connection with its acquisition of Placer Dome Inc. (“Placer Dome”), Barrick amalgamated with Placer Dome pursuant to articles of amalgamation dated May 9, 2006. In connection with the acquisition of Arizona Star Resource Corp. (“Arizona Star”), Barrick amalgamated with Arizona Star pursuant to articles of amalgamation dated January 1, 2009. Barrick’s head and registered office is located at Brookfield Place, TD Canada Trust Tower, 161 Bay Street, Suite 3700, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2S1.

Subsidiaries

A significant portion of Barrick’s business is carried on through its subsidiaries. A chart showing Barrick’s mines, projects, related operating subsidiaries, other significant subsidiaries and certain associated subsidiaries as at March 21, 2016 and their respective locations or jurisdictions of incorporation, as applicable, is set out at the end of this “General Information” section. All subsidiaries, mines and projects referred to in the chart are 100% owned, unless otherwise noted.

Areas of Interest

A map showing Barrick’s mining operations and projects as at March 21, 2016, including those mines held through Barrick’s equity interest in Acacia Mining plc (“Acacia”), is set out at the end of this “General Information” section.

General Development of the Business

Barrick entered the gold mining business in 1983 and is a leading international gold company. The Company has operating mines or projects in Canada, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Tanzania, Zambia, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia. The Company’s principal products and sources of earnings are gold and copper.

During its first ten years, Barrick focused on acquiring and developing properties in North America, notably the Company’s Goldstrike property on the Carlin Trend in Nevada. Since 1994, Barrick has strategically expanded beyond its North American base and now operates on five continents.

Barrick’s corporate strategy is focused on maximizing risk-adjusted rates of return and free cash flow per share through a disciplined approach to capital allocation. Capital allocation decisions are evaluated against the Company’s 15% hurdle rate. As part of this strategy, all capital allocation options, including returns to shareholders, organic investment, acquisitions, and other expenditures, have been, and will continue to be, ranked and prioritized to meet certain key objectives including generating returns to shareholders, aggressively reducing costs, strengthening Barrick’s balance sheet, optimizing Barrick’s asset portfolio around the world including by divesting those assets that do not meet these criteria and investing in assets that do,and reducing geopolitical risk. Barrick carried out the following initiatives in 2013, 2014, 2015 and thus far in 2016 in accordance with its corporate strategy:

In July 2013, Barrick completed the sale of its Barrick Energy oil and gas business segment for consideration of $435 million, consisting of $387 million in cash and a future royalty valued at $48 million. As of August 2013, the Company decided to initiate closure of its Pierina mine in Peru. On September 30, 2013, Barrick completed the sale of the Company’s Yilgarn South assets, which are the Granny Smith, Lawlers and Darlot mines in Australia, for total proceeds of $266 million, consisting of $135 million in cash and $131 million in Gold Fields Limited shares.

In November 2013, Barrick completed a bought deal equity offering of 163.5 million common shares at a price of $18.35 per common share for net proceeds of approximately $2.9 billion. Barrick used the net proceeds of the offering to strengthen the Company’s balance sheet and improve its long-term liquidity position by using approximately $2.6 billion to redeem or repurchase outstanding short- and medium-term debt.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, Barrick announced the temporary suspension of construction at its Pascua-Lama project in Chile and Argentina, except for those activities required for environmental and regulatory compliance. The Company had previously suspended construction activities on the Chilean side of the project, except for those activities deemed necessary for environmental protection, during the second quarter of 2013 as a result of the issuance of a preliminary injunction. The ramp-down was completed on schedule and budget in mid-2014. In late 2015, a temporary suspension plan for the Pascua-Lama project was approved by the mining authorities in Chile and Argentina. See “Narrative Description of the Business – Operating Segments – Pascua-Lama Project.”

On January 31, 2014, Barrick completed the sale of its Plutonic mine in Australia for total cash consideration of A$25 million. On March 1, 2014, Barrick completed the sale of its Kanowna mine in Australia for total cash consideration of A$75 million, subject to certain closing adjustments. On March 11, 2014, Barrick completed the divestment of a portion of its equity interest in Acacia, raising gross proceeds of $186 million (for more information about Acacia, see “Narrative Description of the Business – Operating Segments – Acacia Mining plc”). Following this partial divestment, Barrick’s equity interest in Acacia was reduced from 73.9% to 63.9%. On April 4, 2014, the Company completed the sale of its minority interest in the Marigold mine in Nevada for total cash consideration of $86 million. On December 3, 2014, Barrick formed a joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden), which is 50% owned by the Saudi Arabian government, to operate the Jabal Sayid project. Ma’aden acquired its 50% interest in Ma’aden Barrick Copper Company, the new joint venture company established to hold the Jabal Sayid assets, for cash consideration of $216 million (for more information about the Jabal Sayid project, see “Exploration and Evaluations”).

In the third quarter of 2014, Barrick implemented an executive management structure that places a greater emphasis on operational excellence and the acceleration of portfolio optimization and cost reduction initiatives, while fostering a partnership culture. Barrick appointed two Co-Presidents and eliminated the Chief Executive Officer role as part of this structure. In the third quarter of 2015, in connection with the retirement of one of the Co-Presidents, Barrick refined its management structure to give the President overall responsibility for execution of the Company’s strategic priorities.