PROFILE — Smith forges bond with Munk, staff at Barrick

Gold producer American Barrick Resources continues to fare well in the stock market although its primary commodity seems to have lost some of its lustre. .TPresident Robert Smith attributes the company’s strong performance in part to “Lady Luck” and “Mother Nature,” and to low production costs at Barrick.

Not unexpectedly, the president also credits Chairman Peter Munk and the entire staff with Barrick’s enviable success. “There’s no `I,’ only `we,’ here,” he says. Smith stresses that mutual respect and trust have made his partnership with Munk tick and have forged a smooth relationship with the workforce.

While Munk is willing to take risks, Smith says, he, himself, cautiously checks out each project’s economic viability to make sure that every gamble is a safe bet.

“Peter is a sophisticated corporate executive, from whom I have learned paper shuffling,” Smith says. “His great attribute is delegating responsibilities. My first love is to be hands on. Working on site always turns me on.” Born in New Liskeard, Ont., Feb. 26, 1932, he started as a stope miner at the now-closed O’Brien gold mine, of which his uncle was mine manager, and then at Denison Mines’ former uranium operations at Elliot Lake, Ont. After that, he studied mining engineering at the University of Toronto.

Upon graduation in 1956, he returned to Denison and stayed with the company until 1958 when he became research engineer with Iron Ore Co. of Canada in Schefferville, Que. In 1964 he joined Bechtel Canada. The next year he went to work for his brother’s boss, Art Stollery, who, with Robert Fasken, had a controlling interest in Camflo Mines.

When Barrick acquired Camflo in 1984, Smith was appointed vice-president of operations of the amalgamated company. He soon became accustomed to Munk’s speedy oral delivery and “illegible” handwriting, which Munk’s secretary at first had to decipher for Smith. He rose through the ranks to become president and chief operating officer in 1986.

Shortly after the merger, Smith’s only son died in an underground accident at Denison. “Peter (Munk) was always there for me, putting his arm around me when I needed emotional support,” Smith recalls. His wife, Jane, and his daughter, who now has two children, helped him through the crisis. “I used to bury myself in my work,” he adds. “Now I have learned to shift my love for my son to young geologists and mining engineers, who are going to run the industry.”

Barrick continues the tradition, initiated by Camflo, of hiring at least 10 undergraduates of mining-related disciplines from Queen’s University, Smith’s two children’s alma mater, every summer.

Smith speaks fondly of the acquisition of the Mercur mine in 1985 because the money generated from the project allowed Barrick to pay off its debts and purchase the highly profitable Goldstrike property in Nevada. “It will be a milestone in my career when Goldstrike becomes an annual million-ounce-plus producer by year-end,” he says.