Car talk spurs Barrick-Cisco plan to reshape mining with technology

Toronto

AN unlikely collaboration between the world's largest gold miner and a California tech giant began with a meeting about cars.

Earlier this year, John Thornton, executive chairman of Barrick Gold Corp, found himself in a room with Cisco Systems Inc chairman John Chambers. Mr Thornton, a Ford Motor Co trustee, was there to learn how technology is transforming the car industry. Instead, he came away with a plan to reshape a business he says is at least a century out of date.