May 28th, 2026 | 07:25 CEST
Gold Consolidation in Africa: Barrick Mining and Harmony Gold Under Pressure – North Arrow Minerals Fills the Strategic Niche
Rapidly dwindling mineral reserves, a lack of major discoveries in historically developed areas, and drastically increased geopolitical risks—the situation in the gold industry demands action. Leading companies must realign their portfolios to avoid valuation discounts. The search is on for deposits in stable jurisdictions that can be brought into production quickly with state-of-the-art infrastructure. According to regular analyses by the Fraser Institute, Botswana is emerging as the primary target area in Africa. The junior company North Arrow Minerals is positioning itself in a promising geological niche to systematically define a virtually untouched system with the Kraaipan Gold Project.
time to read: 3 minutes
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Author:
Nico Popp
ISIN:
BARRICK MINING CORPORATION | CA06849F1080 | NYSE: B , TSX: ABX , NORTH ARROW MINERALS INC | CA6572805092 | TSXV: NAR , HARMONY GOLD MNG RC-_50 | ZAE000015228
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Author
Nico Popp
At home in Southern Germany, the passionate stock exchange expert has been accompanying the capital markets for about twenty years. With a soft spot for smaller companies, he is constantly on the lookout for exciting investment stories.
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Harmony Gold: Focus on Optimization and Regional Strength
Harmony Gold mines precious metals and focuses on optimizing mature mines and extending the life of existing infrastructure through targeted exploration in the vicinity of these facilities. Most recently, the company increased revenue by 34% to ZAR 68,385 million in the nine-month reporting period, driven by a 39% increase in the realized gold price. According to Adam Hamilton of research firm Zeal LLC, gold producers are experiencing the most profitable phase in their history. The Kalgold mine in South Africa serves as a direct benchmark and demonstrates that in the Kraaipan Belt, ores with grades below 1.0 g/t Au can be mined highly profitably at all-in sustaining costs of USD 1,919 per ounce. Harmony Gold is strategically dependent on utilizing its facilities to full capacity in the long term through new satellite resources in the immediate vicinity.
Barrick Mining: Tier-One Strategy and Geopolitical Strains
Barrick Mining focuses on operating a large portfolio of long-lived Tier-One large-scale projects that must achieve an annual production of more than 500,000 ounces of gold. The downside of this strategy became apparent in 2025 with the escalation of the conflict with Mali's military government. As a result of the government's forced takeover of the Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex at that time, Barrick was forced to record an extraordinary impairment charge of USD 1 billion. Despite these setbacks, the group generated revenue of USD 16.96 billion and net income of USD 4.99 billion in fiscal year 2025, with annual gold production of 3.26 million ounces. To minimize future risks, the industry giant urgently needs new ore bodies in politically stable regions. Young, promising companies are therefore coming into focus.
North Arrow Minerals: High-Tech Exploration in the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt
North Arrow Minerals is following in the footsteps of mining legend Randgold Resources, which merged with Barrick Mining a few years ago and also relied on detailed exploration. Through the Kraaipan Gold Project, North Arrow controls concessions in Botswana, of which more than 80% are covered by Kalahari sand. In cooperation with Rockman Resources, North Arrow is overcoming this geological hurdle and has already identified six promising gold zones. In the spring, a USD 2.3 million drilling program was launched to delineate these structures at depth. Outstanding drill results at Target A returned 1.56 g/t Au over 30 m, including a high-grade core of 7.32 g/t Au over 3 m. Additional grab samples confirmed the potential with values of up to 68.50 g/t Au.
How It Is Done: North Arrow and the Monetization of Marginal Assets
North Arrow operates under the project generator model, generating revenue by monetizing marginal assets. A concrete example is the sale of lithium projects in the Northwest Territories to Li-FT Power at the end of 2024, in exchange for 250,000 shares. Through this transaction, the company generated cash for the further development of the Kraaipan Gold project without diluting its equity. Shareholders are pleased with this, and it motivates them to remain loyal to the company in the long term.
Top Management and Strong Insider Support
North Arrow Minerals' focus is supported by a strong management team specifically tailored to the requirements of Southern Africa. About a year ago, Eira Thomas, with more than 30 years of operational experience in the mining sector and previously having successfully led the Karowe diamond project in Botswana, took over as President and CEO. The management is supported by strong financial ties to well-known mining players. Prominent geologist and mining entrepreneur Ross Beaty and the Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund each acquired 19.01% of the shares as part of a strategic placement. Together with other industry heavyweights, more than 53% of the total share capital is held by insiders, which effectively protects the company from hostile takeovers and uncoordinated dilution during this early stage of development. There is also likely to be sufficient know-how available around North Arrow.
Conclusion: Citigroup Analyst Sees Major Corporations Under Pressure
Global gold mining is undergoing a profound transformation due to a multitude of crises, during which stable jurisdictions like Botswana are gaining significant value. As mining analyst Alexander Hacking of Citigroup notes, high-risk portfolios are significantly weighing on the valuations of established producers. For major producers, a junior company like North Arrow Minerals represents a potential solution once a significant ore body system has been proven. Since the company is currently valued at only about CAD 15 million in market capitalization, the secure environment in Botswana presents considerable strategic upside potential for investors.
Conflict of interest
Pursuant to §85 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG), we point out that Apaton Finance GmbH as well as partners, authors or employees of Apaton Finance GmbH (hereinafter referred to as "Relevant Persons") may hold shares or other financial instruments of the aforementioned companies in the future or may bet on rising or falling prices and thus a conflict of interest may arise in the future. The Relevant Persons reserve the right to buy or sell shares or other financial instruments of the Company at any time (hereinafter each a "Transaction"). Transactions may, under certain circumstances, influence the respective price of the shares or other financial instruments of the Company.
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