Barrick on track to meet 2024 targets, shares rise

Barrick Gold Corp.’s [ABX-TSX, GOLD-NYSE] said it is on track to deliver on its 2024 production targets after producing 948,000 ounces of gold and 43,000 tonnes of copper in the second quarter. The company has previously said its gold and copper production this year is expected to progressively increase in each quarter through the year, with a higher weighting in the second half.

The average market price for gold in the second quarter was US$2,338 per ounce. The average market price for copper during the quarter was US$4.42 per pound.

Barrick has gold and copper mining operations and projects in 13 countries in North and South America, Africa, Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia.

The portfolio includes half of the world’s top 10 tier one gold assets (defined as having a mine life of over 10 years, at least 500,000 ounces of annual production and in the bottom half of global total cash costs).

They include Cortez and Goldstrike in Nevada, Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali, and Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic.

Another key asset is Barrick’s Nevada Gold Mines operation. Nevada Gold Mines, established in July 2019, is owned 61.5% and operated by Barrick Gold. Newmont Corp. [NGT-TSX, NEM-NYSE] holds the other 38.5%.

The joint venture ranks as the largest global gold producing complex by a wide margin, with three of the world’s top 10 Tier One gold assets (Goldstrike/Carlin, Cortez and Turquoise Ridge/Twin Creeks) and potentially another one in the making (Goldrush).

On Tuesday, the company said preliminary second quarter gold production was higher than in the first quarter as a result of increased production at Turquoise Ridge, following the completed maintenance at the Sage autoclave in the first quarter, continued ramp-up at Porgera and significant increases at Tongon, North Mara and Kibali. These increases were partially offset by planned lower production at Cortez and Pheonix. Pueblo Viejo production was flat sequentially as throughput is ramped up with a shift to recovery rate optimization in the second half of 2024. Compared with the first and second quarter gold cost of sales per ounce and total cash costs per ounce are both expected to be zero per cent or 2.0% higher.

Preliminary second quarter copper production was higher than the first quarter, driven primarily by higher grades and recoveries at Lumwana in Zambia following the ramp-up in stripping activities in the first quarter as well as the planned shutdown in the first quarter. Costs are expected to drop in the second half of the year as production ramps up at Lumwana, an operation that Barrick is working to transform into one of the world’s major copper mines with projected annual production of 240,000 tonnes annually during an expected lifespan of 30 years.

On Tuesday, Barrick Gold shares rose 4.14% or $1.04 to $26.16 on volume of 1.6 million. The shares are trading in a 52-week range of $26.05 and $18.65.