B vs PAAS: How Barrick Mining Corporation and Pan American Silver Compare (2026)

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. B and PAAS share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined B and PAAS exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Barrick Mining Corporation (B) is one of the world's largest gold producers and, increasingly, a major copper producer. It mines and sells gold and copper from a portfolio of large, long-life operations spread across the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East, including Nevada Gold Mines (a joint venture in the United States), Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali. The company changed its name from Barrick Gold Corporation to Barrick Mining Corporation and switched its NYSE ticker from GOLD to B in May 2025, reflecting its push to grow copper alongside gold. Its growth pipeline includes the Fourmile gold project in Nevada and the large Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan. As a commodity producer, Barrick's revenue and profits swing with gold and copper prices, which it does not control. Its shares also trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under ABX. Headquartered in Toronto, Barrick is widely viewed as a large-cap way to gain exposure to gold as a store of value, with growing copper leverage to electrification.

Full B guide

Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS) is a Vancouver-based precious-metals mining company and one of the largest primary silver producers in the world, with significant gold output alongside the silver. It operates a portfolio of mines spread across the Americas, including Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, and Chile. The company makes money by mining and selling silver and gold (plus byproducts such as zinc, lead, and copper at some operations), so its revenue and margins are driven by how many ounces it produces relative to its mining costs and the prevailing silver and gold prices. In 2025 Pan American produced roughly 22.8 million ounces of silver and about 742,000 ounces of gold and reported record annual revenue of around $3.6 billion.

Full PAAS guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• B drivers: Large-cap gold exposure; Growing copper and the energy transition.
• PAAS drivers: Silver-price leverage; MAG Silver and Juanicipio.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Barrick is a commodity producer, so its revenue and profits swing sharply with gold and copper prices, which it does not control and which can fall in stronger-growth or higher-real-rate environments. For PAAS, pan American's results are highly cyclical and move with silver and gold prices, which are volatile and outside the company's control, so margins and the share price can swing sharply.

Pick B if you believe its drivers more; PAAS if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the B and PAAS guides.

B. Barrick's valuation is inherently cyclical because earnings move with gold and copper prices the company does not control. A normal P/E can look low near the top of the metals cycle and high or not meaningful near the bottom, so the stock often trades on the gold and copper price outlook rather than on trailing earnings. In 2025 Barrick generated roughly $17 billion of revenue and about $3.9 billion of free cash flow and returned a company-record amount to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. Figures are approximate and move sharply with commodity prices; verify current numbers before relying on them.

PAAS. Pan American's financials are commodity-driven: revenue, earnings, and valuation are dominated by silver and gold prices and by how many ounces it produces relative to its costs. Because it is a primary silver producer with byproduct gold and base metals, it offers operating leverage to the silver price in particular, so earnings can rise or fall faster than the metal itself. Precious-metals producer multiples often look elevated or depressed at different points in the cycle, so reading PAAS means weighing production growth, all-in sustaining costs, and the metal-price environment together rather than a single multiple.

Headline figures (approximate, early 2026): B shows revenue (fy2025) ~$17 billion (varies with metal prices), primary products gold, with a growing copper business, gold production (fy2025) ~3.3 million ounces, copper production (fy2025) ~220,000 tonnes (a company record); PAAS shows silver production (2025) ~22.8 million ounces attributable, exceeding annual guidance, gold production (2025) ~742,000 ounces attributable, within guidance, revenue (2025 full year) ~$3.6 billion (record), with net earnings around $980 million, all-in sustaining costs Silver segment ~$14.50 to $16.00 per ounce; gold segment ~$1,700 to $1,850 per ounce.

B and PAAS are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined B and PAAS exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.