M&A activity in the gold space has been strong over the last couple of years, but Barrick's ( TSX : ABX ,NYSE:GOLD) Mark Bristow believes more consolidation is still needed. "The industry has gone a long way from where it was in just 18 months," he said during a Q&A session at the Denver Gold Forum, the latest industry event to go online. "The problem now is that — my issue is — we haven't finished that job. This industry has still got a mishmash of assets and too many managers' hands, and it needs further consolidation." The latest round of gold M&A was arguably kicked off at the Denver Gold Forum two years ago, when Barrick and Randgold Resources announced plans to join forces. The so-called mega merger received mixed reactions from gold market participants, but ultimately was followed by a slew of transactions in the gold market, including Newmont's (TSX: NGT ,NYSE:NEM) blockbuster acquisition of Goldcorp in 2019.