The restructure will see CEO Jamie Sokalsky leave the company on September 15 after 21 years, including the past two as CEO.

The former chief financial officer took the top job in June 2012 after Barrick dumped its former boss Aaron Regent.

Since then, Sokalsky has streamlined the company’s portfolio and implemented a “disciplined capital allocation framework” under the mantra of “returns will drive production, production will not drive returns”

As a result, Barrick’s portfolio has dropped to 19 mines from 27 last year, with six Australian mines sold off to Gold Fields and Northern Star Resources.

Sokalsky said he was proud of what had been accomplished over the past two years.

In a surprising move for the world’s largest gold miner, the CEO role will be eliminated.

Instead, senior executive VP corporate and government affairs Kelvin Dushnisky and executive VP and chief operating officer Jim Gowans have been appointed as co-presidents of Barrick with overall responsibility for execution of the company’s strategic priorities and operating plans.

CFO Ammar Al-Joundi will be promoted to senior executive VP and CFO and will also work closely with chairman John Thornton on strategy development and execution.

Darian Rich has been appointed to the new position of executive VP, talent management.

“These structural changes put an even greater emphasis on operational excellence, and will accelerate our portfolio optimisation and cost reduction initiatives, while fostering a partnership culture both inside the company and externally,” Thornton said.

Thornton also thanked Sokalsky for his contribution to Barrick.

“The changes we are announcing today build on the operating model that Jamie and his team implemented over the past year, setting the stage for us to move forward as a nimble, more versatile company focused on shareholder returns,” he said.

The restructure comes after Barrick founder Peter Munk stepped down from the board in late April, leaving Thornton as sole chairman.

At the time of his departure, Munk said he was proud of Sokalsky and had never seen such a high approval rating in his re-election to the board.

Thornton has had a busy few months at Barrick, presiding over failed merger talks between the company and US-based Newmont Mining.

In a public war of words, Newmont blamed Thornton, a former president of Goldman Sachs, for the breakdown in talks.

JP Morgan believes a merger between the two is still an attractive proposition, with analysts suggesting last Friday that the potential synergies in Nevada will keep the deal alive.

On Sunday, Barrick announced the sale of half of its Jabal Sayid copper project in Saudi Arabia to Ma’aden for $US210 million ($A224.5 million)

Tellingly, Sokalsky was absent from the signing ceremony in Riyadh, with Thorton and Dushnisky representing Barrick.

Barrick shares rose by 2.9% in Toronto and by nearly 3.1% in New York overnight.