Finance
Barrick and Newmont CEOs depart in mining leadership shake-up
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 29, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 29, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Barrick and Newmont announce CEO departures amid industry shifts. Mark Hill becomes interim CEO at Barrick, while Natascha Viljoen is set to lead Newmont.
By Divya Rajagopal and Clara Denina
(Reuters) -Barrick Mining appointed veteran executive Mark Hill as interim president and CEO on Monday following the sudden resignation of Mark Bristow, who led the Canadian miner for nearly seven years after its merger with Randgold Resources.
On the same day, rival Newmont said CEO Tom Palmer will be replaced in January by insider Natascha Viljoen, who will become the first female CEO of the world's biggest gold mining company. The timing of the statements appeared to be coincidental.
The global mining industry has experienced a period of significant transition as an investor push for stronger growth and returns has driven leadership changes across the sector. Rio Tinto earlier this year appointed a new CEO, and the world's largest mining company BHP is also preparing to replace its chief.
ANALYSTS SURPRISED BY BRISTOW'S EARLY DEPARTURE
In a note, analysts at Citi said that, while Palmer's departure from Newmont was "well flagged" and unlikely to spark a major stock reaction, the Bristow announcement was "more surprising".
Bristow, who became CEO in 2019 when Barrick acquired Randgold, oversaw the integration of the two companies and steered the miner through a period of significant portfolio reshaping and debt reduction.
He said in May he would stay in his current role until 2028, which would have allowed him to oversee the development of the company's Reko Diq copper and gold project in Pakistan.
The news of his departure therefore "comes suddenly", RBC Capital Markets analyst Josh Wolfson said, and in the near term could overshadow Barrick's update this month on its Fourmile discovery in Nevada, which the company said has potential to become one of the world’s leading gold assets.
"Barrick CEO succession has been a consistent investor question for some time," Wolfson said in a note. "Following today's news, we believe the strategic outlook of Barrick is less certain."
Hill, who will also continue to serve as group chief operating officer, takes charge immediately as the board begins a global search for a permanent CEO with the help of an external firm, named by one source as Egon Zehnder.
MALI, REKO DIQ AMONG CHALLENGES FOR NEW CEO
The board has been looking at succession planning for some time, driven, the source said on condition of anonymity, by the business's underperformance compared to competitors in the past five years.
Shares in Barrick, which owns 13 mining assets across Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America, have risen by 37% since 2020 compared to a 110% climb in shares of fellow Canadian miner Agnico Eagle. Gold prices have been at record highs.
U.S.-listed Barrick shares were up 0.8% at 1445 GMT on Monday.
The company will consider both internal and external candidates, the source said, adding it was not clear if Hill would put himself forward as permanent CEO.
Known for his mercurial leadership style, Bristow's tenure at Barrick was focused on integrating assets that Barrick owned in some of the volatile regions of the world.
He has been known for his tough negotiating tactics, with some wins and some losses.
His biggest test came this year when Barrick's mine in Mali, one of its biggest gold assets in Africa, was taken over by the military government over alleged non-payment of taxes. Barrick had to write off $1 billion from its books over the dispute.
NEWMONT APPOINTS FIRST FEMALE CEO
At Newmont, Palmer will step down on December 31, with President and Chief Operating Officer Viljoen becoming the company's first female CEO from January 1 next year.
Shares in the company opened at a record high of $87.93 on Monday, but were later down 1% at $84.04.
Viljoen will join Freeport-McMoRan's Kathleen Quirk as the two highest-ranking women in the global mining industry, a sector that men have dominated.
Since Palmer's appointment as CEO in 2019, Newmont has completed transformative deals including the Goldcorp acquisition, the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture, and the $17 billion acquisition of Australian mining company Newcrest.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru, Divya Rajagopal in Toronto and Clara Denina in London. Writing by Jan Harvey. Editing by Veronica Brown, Mrigank Dhaniwala, Mark Potter and Barbara Lewis)
A merger is a business transaction where two companies combine to form a single entity, often to enhance competitive advantage, increase market share, or achieve operational efficiencies.
Market reaction refers to the response of investors and traders to news or events that affect the financial markets, often reflected in stock price movements or trading volumes.
Explore more articles in the Finance category
