✦ Fourmile & the Newmont SettlementNarrow moat
Barrick Mining (B) — the future bets
A deposit rivals cannot copy because they cannot buy the geology — and a $4 billion settlement to finally stop arguing about who owns it.
Fourmile is the rarest thing in mining: a genuinely new high-grade discovery sitting beside infrastructure that already exists. Barrick's updated studies describe it as one of this century's most significant gold finds, with a conceptual underground operation of roughly 600,000 to 750,000 ounces a year at life-of-mine costs near $850-900 an ounce1 — against an industry that mostly mines gold in the $1,400s. Twenty rigs are turning, about 120 kilometres of directional drilling is planned for 2026, decline development at Bullion Hill was contracted to begin in the third quarter, and a full prefeasibility study is targeted for 20282.
The complication was ownership. Fourmile was Barrick's alone while the surrounding mines belong to Nevada Gold Mines, the joint venture with Newmont — an arrangement that guaranteed argument about value. August 2026 resolved it: a $4 billion settlement vends Fourmile in from Barrick and Mike and Fiberline in from Newmont, creating a Nevada complex approaching 100 million ounces, with Newmont paying Barrick a $1.95 billion cash top-up within thirty days3.
For a company whose product has no brand, a deposit like this is the closest thing to an advantage available — not pricing power, but a cost position rivals cannot copy because they cannot buy the geology. The caveat is that conceptual studies flatter and mines disappoint; grades reconcile lower, capital estimates rise. Watch the 2028 prefeasibility study's all-in sustaining cost against that $850-900 conceptual figure. If it holds, Barrick owns a mine that prints money at almost any gold price; if it drifts toward the industry average, Fourmile is merely large.
Free cash flow fell 88% in a quarter as the price eased and capex rose; the settlement's cash top-up from Newmont matters more at these levels.
Source: Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) ↗- ReportedUpdated studies call Fourmile one of this century's most significant gold finds — ~600,000-750,000 oz a year at ~$850-900/oz.Barrick — updated studies confirm Fourmile as one of this century's most significant gold finds: conceptual underground operation of ~600,000-750,000 oz a year at life-of-mine costs of ~$850-900/oz — 2025-2026 · publ. September 2025 · source ↗
- ReportedTwenty rigs turning, ~120km of directional drilling planned for 2026, Bullion Hill decline development from Q3, prefeasibility targeted for 2028.Barrick Q1 2026 results (SEC Form 6-K exhibit) — Fourmile continuing to demonstrate standalone Tier One potential with a full prefeasibility study expected in 2028; Lumwana Super Pit construction advancing on time and on budget; the planned IPO of a minority stake in the company holding Nevada Gold Mines, Pueblo Viejo and Fourmile on track for completion by end-2026 — Q1 2026 · publ. May 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedThe $4B Newmont settlement vends Fourmile, Mike and Fiberline into a Nevada complex approaching 100 million ounces, with a $1.95B cash top-up.Barrick Q2 2026 results — a ~$4B arrangement with Newmont resolving disputes and vending Fourmile (from Barrick) plus Mike and Fiberline (from Newmont) into the Nevada joint venture, creating a complex approaching 100 million ounces; Newmont to pay Barrick a $1.95B cash top-up within thirty days; Lumwana first copper expected by the end of Q1 2028 — August 2026 · publ. August 10, 2026 · source ↗
- Barrick Mining — Annual Report (barrick.com/investors)
- Fourmile updated studies
- Q2 2026 results (Newmont arrangement)