Barrick Gold (NYSE, TSX:ABX), the world's top miner of the precious metal, is moving forward with its global employee share plan, which aims at making every staff member an owner of the company.
As part of the initiative, launched in 2016, the Canadian miner's employees will receive this year 90 shares each, taking the total held by staff to more than 1.5 million shares, it said Tuesday.
"Just like that first generation of leaders, we want our people today to have the emotional and financial investment of an owner," Barrick's executive chairman John Thornton said.
"Ownership demands courage, conviction, and commitment. Courage to speak out, even when you know you are going to face stiff resistance. Conviction to voice your ideas and see them through. Commitment to the excellence of a leading twenty-first-century company, and the wherewithal to change whenever change is required, as it so often is in our industry, Thornton noted.
The executive said that while the number of shares granted varies each year, based on company performance, it represents a vote of confidence in Barrick's employees.
The company, which is risking losing its leading position as world's largest gold miner as rival Newmont's (NYSE:NEM) continues to increase, said last month it will add 1 million ounces of production from four projects after 2022.