One of the world’s best regarded mining executives said this week that high risk jurisdictions “just happen to be where the best opportunities are”. Mark Bristow has opened mines in Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other countries that are difficult to operate in, but his record in building up Randgold Resources speaks to the potential rewards that come with this risk.
Bristow now runs Barrick Gold (US:ABX), which has been targeted by the Malian government in the past week even after handing over an $85mn (£67mn) “goodwill” payment after four of its employees were arrested in September. Last week, Barrick announced that four employees had been charged and are in custody awaiting trial. It refutes the charges and said the employees had been "unjustly detained".
But speaking at a conference in London this week, Bristow said given the low levels of exploration and rising demand for copper and even new gold production miners would have to go out of their comfort zones. “Much of the metals and minerals endowment is concentrated in what are classified as low-GDP regions,” he said. “In other words, those countries global mining companies have and largely continue to avoid because they are considered high-risk investment destinations.”