The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Barrick Gold does not want to buy copper mining giant Freeport McMoRan, although it is interested in its flagship Grasberg mine in Indonesia, chief executive officer Mark Bristow said on Thursday. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the strategy replicates one that Mr. Bristow successfully used in 2019: aggressively float interest in an entire company even though the ultimate goal is just one asset. Rumours that Barrick planned to bid for Freeport are "completely wrong," Mr. Bristow told Reuters on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town. "People jump to conclusions." The rumours, though, were flamed in recent weeks by Mr. Bristow himself in meetings with analysts and investors that leaked out to various media. "People say, 'Are you interested in Grasberg?' I say, 'I have to be; it's a Tier 1 asset,'" Mr. Bristow said. Tier 1 assets refer to high-grade, long-life mines. Buying Grasberg would fit nicely into Barrick's strategy of expanding in the Pacific Rim and capitalizing on rising copper demand from the electric vehicle industry. Mr. Bristow said he believes copper will be "the most-strategic metal on this planet" in a decade.