Canada's Barrick Mining interim CEO Mark Hill says the company’s greatest opportunity lies in North America, as a company-wide operational review nears its halfway mark.

Hill, who stepped into the top job in September succeeding Mark Bristow, told analysts during Barrick’s third-quarter earnings call that the review aims to strengthen safety, reliability and performance across the group.

“The quality of our assets is undeniable, so we are undertaking a review of our operations from the bottom up to ensure we have the right teams and processes in place to safely, most importantly, and consistently, deliver value going forward,” he said. “We are about halfway through that review, and we will provide more details at our full-year results in February.”

Hill emphasised that the review was aimed at improving predictability and operational discipline, rather than major management changes. “It is just about getting those plans in place and making sure they are solid and we can rely on them going forward."

In response to questions, Hill said he believed the most significant opportunity for Barrick was at its gold assets in North America, particularly at Nevada Gold Mines (NGM) – a joint venture with Newmont – and at the emerging Fourmile discovery.

“Since assuming this interim CEO responsibility, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that the most significant opportunity is at our gold assets in North America, particularly through improved performance at NGM coupled with our gold discovery at Fourmile,” he said.

Hill called NGM “the foundation of Barrick Mining Corporation", contributing more than half of third-quarter attributable output. “It is on track to achieve full-year production guidance and is central to delivering value to our shareholders,” he said.

Barrick currently has 16 drill rigs operating at Fourmile and plans to increase that to 20 next year as it prepares to start decline development in 2026. The company recently updated its preliminary economic assessment for the project, highlighting its “rare combination of grade, scale, and exploration upside".

On broader strategy, Hill said Barrick’s direction remained unchanged but his attention would be firmly on North America.

“I do not think the strategy has changed at all … but if you ask me where my attention is gonna be and maybe there is a little bit of a change, then it will be all the focus we are gonna put into North America,” he said. “Because I do see a big opportunity there, and I do see that as the big project and the next big growth area for Barrick Mining Corporation.”