TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Ned Goodman has, after a 15-month stint, resigned as independent director of Barrick Gold to focus on a new business venture in resources and other hard assets.
He joined the Barrick board in April last year, at a time when the company moved to bring new experience to the table and increase the number of independent directors.
Goodman, an industry veteran was the founder of asset management and brokerage firm Dundee Corp.
He last month became cochairperson of Oban Mining, a venture that brought together five Canadian gold exploration and development companies and several mining sector veterans to focus on assets in the country.
"We would like to thank Goodman for his contributions to Barrick and for his astute counsel during this transformative period for the company. We wish Ned great success and look forward to exploring opportunities to work together in the future,” Barrick chairperson John Thornton said.
Goodman was the second independent director to resign from Barrick’s board this year. In May, David Naylor stepped down, saying he planned to return to work at the University of Toronto.
Meanwhile, Barrick also on Thursday announced that it had completed the divestiture of its Cowal mine, in New South Wales, Australia, to Evolution Mining for $550-million in cash. Proceeds from the sale of Cowal would be used to repay debt, the company said.
"The sale of Cowal is consistent with the strategy we have outlined to create long-term value for our owners and will make a significant contribution to our debt reduction target while further focusing the geographic footprint of our portfolio," co-president Kelvin Dushnisky said.