By Alex Létourneau
Kitco News
After Barrick Gold Corp’s second-quarter conference, President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Sokalsky said the company would look to divest assets, and he kept his word.
The gold mining giant sold its Yilgarn South assets, which included the Granny Smith, Lawlers and Darlot mines in Australia, to Gold Fields Ltd. And, he told Kitco News at the Denver Gold Forum to expect more divestments.
“We’re looking at Australia for divestments there and a number of other assets we’re looking to divest, and we’re getting quite a few approaches from people interested in buying our assets,” Sokalsky said. “So I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to optimize our portfolio a bit more.
“It’s not a fire sale, it’s about changing the asset portfolio to be stronger and focus more on our core mines,” he added. “But I’m hopeful there is some further progress in our asset sales by the end of the year, or early next year.”