Barrick Announces Appointment of Mark Hill as Chief Investment Officer

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 30, 2016) - Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) (Barrick or the "company") today announced the appointment of Mark Hill as Chief Investment Officer, effective September 12.

In this newly-created position, Mr. Hill will chair Barrick's Investment Committee, and will ensure a high degree of consistency and rigor is applied to all capital allocation decisions at the company-whether at existing operations, development projects, exploration (both near-mine and greenfields), or potential acquisitions and divestments.

Mr. Hill brings added technical experience to the investment review process at Barrick, complementing the economic and financial expertise of Chief Financial Officer Catherine Raw. He will join the company's Executive Committee, as well as our Growth Group, and will oversee an Evaluations team, who will independently scrutinize proposed expenditures before they go to the Investment Committee.

Mr. Hill has more than 25 years of experience in the mining industry. He re-joins Barrick after four years at Waterton Global Resource Management, where he is currently a partner and Head of Mining. In this role, Mr. Hill leads Waterton's Evaluations group, and works with a multi-disciplinary team to conduct asset evaluations and due-diligence reviews.

"The creation of this role reflects our belief that effective capital allocation is a core responsibility of the head office," said Barrick Executive Chairman John L. Thornton. "Mark's previous experience at Barrick, combined with his time at Waterton-a private investor with an outstanding track record of capital allocation-make him an ideal choice to become the company's first Chief Investment Officer."

Prior to Waterton, Mr. Hill's positions at Barrick included Vice President, Evaluations, and Vice President, Capital Projects. He has also held senior positions with BHP Billiton, AngloGold Ashanti, Placer Dome, and WMC Ltd. Mr. Hill holds a Bachelor's degree in Mining Engineering, and a Graduate Diploma in Mineral Economics.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain information contained in this press release, including any information as to our strategy, projects, plans, or future financial or operating performance, constitutes "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words "will", "grow", "potential", and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, with respect to targeted investments by Barrick's Investment Committee and Growth Group, and potential improvements to financial and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions; including material estimates and assumptions related to the factors set forth below that, while considered reasonable by the company as at the date of this press release in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, copper, or certain other commodities (such as silver, diesel fuel, natural gas, and electricity); the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; changes in mineral production performance, exploitation, and exploration successes; diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; increased costs, delays, suspensions, and technical challenges associated with the construction of capital projects; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities, including geotechnical challenges and disruptions in the maintenance or provision of required infrastructure and information technology systems;