The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the power structure at Barrick Gold is shifting with the diminution in the role played by long-term executive chairman John Thornton. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that Barrick on Wednesday announced that Mr. Thornton has moved from the role of executive chairman to chairman, a position that carries fewer responsibilities, lower pay and much more clearly defined parameters. Barrick said the change in Mr. Thornton's role was driven in part by governance considerations. In a regulatory disclosure, Barrick said that considering Mr. Thornton had achieved key objectives following the company's 2019 acquisition of Randgold Resources, this was both the right time for him to transition to chairman, and for the company to do away with the executive chairman role. Most Canadian companies do not have executive chairs, and the parameters around what an executive chair does are not clearly defined either. A former investment banker with Goldman Sachs in Asia, Mr. Thornton forged deep ties between Barrick and state-controlled China-based gold companies, including Shandong Gold Group and Zijin Mining Group, both of which are joint venture partners on mines with Barrick.