The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Barrick is moving forward with plans to spin out its North American assets into a new publicly listed company and also named Mark Hill as its permanent chief executive officer. The Globe's Tim Kiladze writes that Barrick has operated in a chaotic environment for the past six months. Former CEO Mark Bristow was ousted in September, with Mr. Hill, a company veteran, appointed as interim CEO in the wake. Two months later, the company's lead independent director resigned only six months after joining the board. As this played out, several other senior executives have also turned over, including the miner's chief financial officer. Yet through it all, Barrick's share price has soared after years of underperformance. The price of gold has risen sharply, boosting the bottom line, and the miner also announced a new discovery in Nevada called Fourmile that excited investors. Amid the turmoil, activist investor Elliott Investment Management amassed a large stake in Barrick and started pushing a split into two companies -- one that would own Barrick's lower-risk mines in the Americas and another that would hold higher-risk properties in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.