Barrick Mining Faces a Pivotal Week as Shareholders Vote on Dividend Overhaul and Spin-Off Plans

Barrick Mining enters one of its most consequential periods in recent memory, with a virtual annual general meeting on Friday set to reshape its capital allocation strategy. The gold giant is asking shareholders to approve a radical shift away from share buybacks toward a new dividend policy, while simultaneously navigating a delayed mega-project in Pakistan and a contentious IPO of its North American assets. The proxy voting deadline expired Wednesday at 5 p.m., setting the stage for what promises to be a decisive vote.

A New Dividend Framework Takes Center Stage

The board is proposing to scrap the existing share repurchase program entirely—a program that consumed $1.5 billion in 2025 alone. In its place, management wants to introduce a baseline quarterly dividend of $0.175 per share, supplemented by a variable year-end payout that would funnel half of free cash flow back to investors. This marks a fundamental pivot in how Barrick returns capital to shareholders, moving from episodic buybacks to a more predictable income stream.

The proposal comes on the heels of a record 2025, when the company generated $7.7 billion in operating cash flow and $3.9 billion in free cash flow. Yet the timing is delicate: the first quarter of 2026 is expected to be the weakest of the year, with management already tempering expectations ahead of next week’s Q1 earnings release.

Reko Diq: A $6 Billion Question Mark

Beyond the AGM agenda, operational headwinds are mounting. Barrick has been forced to slow development at Reko Diq, one of the world’s largest untapped copper-gold deposits, located in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province. Escalating security risks have pushed the review phase out by a full year to mid-2027, creating a gap in the company’s financial planning.

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The first construction phase was originally budgeted at up to $6 billion, with a second phase requiring an additional $3.3 billion to $3.6 billion. Management has already warned of cost overruns, a significant setback for a project that was supposed to anchor Barrick’s copper-driven growth strategy. The company insists the project remains actively managed, but capital deployment has been sharply reduced, and the timeline for full development now looks uncertain.

The North American Spin-Off: Progress and Friction

Alongside the dividend vote and Pakistan troubles, Barrick is pushing ahead with plans to spin off its North American mining operations into a separately listed entity tentatively called "North American Barrick." The new vehicle would bundle four tier-one gold mines—Carlin, Cortez, Turquoise Ridge, and Pueblo Viejo—and target a dual listing on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange by the end of 2026. The leadership team, including CFO-designate Wessel Hamman, is already in place.

But the path to IPO is not smooth. Joint-venture partner Newmont has publicly criticized Barrick’s management of the Nevada Gold Mines operations and signaled interest in acquiring those assets outright, citing a contractual right of first refusal. Barrick is structuring the spin-off to avoid triggering a formal change of control, but the dispute adds a layer of complexity that could delay or reshape the transaction. The timing of Fourmile project’s inclusion in the new entity remains another point of contention.

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Governance, Safety, and Market Reaction

The AGM also includes the election of ten directors, with an emphasis on increasing board diversity. Safety has become a more prominent issue after four employee fatalities in 2025 across operations in Nevada, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Barrick has commissioned an independent safety review and increased the weighting of safety metrics in executive compensation targets.

The market has taken notice of the broader narrative. Barrick’s stock gained roughly 7% on Wednesday to C$56.50, though it remains about 20% below its January high of C$71.86. The Q1 earnings report, due early next week, will provide the first real test of whether the record cash flows from 2025 can be sustained amid the operational headwinds and strategic upheaval. For now, shareholders have a clear choice: endorse a new dividend policy, or force management back to the drawing board.

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