MARK Bristow has stepped down as CEO Barrick Mining Corp. with immediate effect, the Toronto-listed company announced on Monday. He will replaced by Mark Hill, head of Barrick’s Latam and Asia Pacific regions on an interim basis while the company finds a permanent replacement. Bristow leaves Barrick after seven years in the role, a position he took following the merger of his Randgold Resources with the Canadian firm. While Barrick was known to be advancing its executive succession strategy, today’s announcement is a major shock if only because the transition is not orderly with a permanent replacement for Bristow yet to be found. “Not in a business like Barrick.” If a process was in place, his retirement might conceivably be sooner, he added.