Commenting on the company’s Q2 results, Bristow said improved performances from the Carlin complex in Nevada, the Kibali gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia have laid a sound
Toronto, August 8, 2023 — Barrick Gold Corporation
(NYSE:GOLD)(TSX:ABX) is on target to meet its gold and
copper production guidance for 2023 and continues to
advance major projects which will drive value delivery in
the long term through organic growth, president and chief
executive Mark Bristow said today.
Commenting on the company’s Q2 results, Bristow said
improved performances from the Carlin complex in Nevada,
the Kibali gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo
and the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia have laid a sound
foundation for production in the second half of the year which,
as guided, is expected to surpass the first. Key drivers of
higher anticipated the H2 results are the Q2 completion of
major maintenance projects at Nevada Gold Mines (“NGM”)
and the commissioning of the plant expansion at the Pueblo
Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic.
Compared to Q1, gold production in Q2 was up 6% at just
over 1 million ounces 1 while copper production increased
by 22% to 107 million pounds. 1 Operating cash flow rose
by 7% to $832 million, net earnings increased by 143% to
17 cents per share, and adjusted net earnings 2 increased
by 36% to 19 cents per share. The quarterly dividend was
maintained at 10 cents. Year-on-year, the total recordable
injury frequency rate (“TRIFR”) was reduced by 8% and
greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 12%.3
Q22023
5 6 7
LUMWANA’S
BURIED
TREASURE
ORGANIC
GROWTH
WHITE RHINOS
BACK IN DRC
ALL AMOUNTS EXPRESSED IN U.S. DOLLARS
NEVADA
FLEXIBILITY
4
BARRICK PROGRESSES EXTENSION OF
LONG-TERM VALUE DELIVERY RUNWAY
Results
Release
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
ON TRACK TO DELIVER WITHIN
ANNUAL PRODUCTION GUIDANCE
STRONGER SECOND
HALF EXPECTED
7% INCREASE IN OPERATING CASH
FLOW* TO $832 MILLION
$0.10 PER SHARE DIVIDEND
DECLARED FOR Q2 2023
8% TRIFR3 REDUCTION
YEAR-ON-YEAR
* COMPARED TO Q1 2023
Key Performance Indicators
Financial and Operating Highlights
Financial Results Q2 2023 Q1 2023 Q2 2022
Realized gold price1,4
($ per ounce) 1,972 1,902 1,861
Net earnings
($ millions) 305 120 488
Adjusted net earnings2
($ millions) 336 247 419
Net cash provided by operating
activities ($ millions) 832 776 924
Free cash flow5
($ millions) 63 88 169
Net earnings per share
($) 0.17 0.07 0.27
Adjusted net earnings
per share2 ($) 0.19 0.14 0.24
Attributable capital
expenditures6,7 ($ millions) 588 526 587
Operating Results Q2 2023 Q1 2023 Q2 2022
Gold
Production1
(000s of ounces) 1,009 952 1,043
Cost of sales1,8
($ per ounce) 1,323 1,378 1,216
Total cash costs1,9
($ per ounce) 963 986 855
All-in sustaining costs1,9
($ per ounce) 1,355 1,370 1,212
Copper
Production1
(millions of pounds) 107 88 120
Cost of sales1,8
($ per pound) 2.84 3.22 2.11
C1 cash costs1,10
($ per pound) 2.28 2.71 1.70
All-in sustaining costs1,10
($ per pound) 3.13 3.40 2.87
Q2 2023 Results Presentation
Webinar and Conference Call
Mark Bristow will host a live presentation of the results
today at 11:00 AM ET, with an interactive webinar linked to
a conference call. Participants will be able to ask questions.
Go to the webinar
US and Canada (toll-free), 1 800 319 4610
UK (toll-free), 0808 101 2791
International (toll), +1 416 915 3239
The Q2 2023 presentation materials will be available on
Barrick’s website at www.barrick.com and the webinar will
remain on the website for later viewing.
Best Assets
▪ Strong performances at Carlin, Kibali and
Lumwana keep Barrick on track to deliver
gold and copper production within annual
guidance
▪ Stronger second half expected with
completion of major shutdowns at NGM and
Pueblo Viejo ramp-up in Q3
▪ New equipment at Lumwana delivers 40%
increase in copper production, 21% decrease
in cost of sales and 26% decrease in C1 cash
costs10 over Q1; more expected in H2 as we
mine higher grade benches
▪ Solid Q2 production at Veladero places it
firmly on track to deliver on full-year guidance
▪ Porgera continues to advance to restart,
aided by settlement of legacy tax dispute and
submission of new Special Mining Lease
application
▪ Exploration progresses significant brownfields
opportunities at Carlin, Cortez, Turquoise
Ridge, Veladero, Loulo, Kibali and Lumwana
while consolidating new prospective ground
positions in USA, Canada, Dominican
Republic, Peru, Chile, Tanzania and Côte
d’Ivoire
Leader in Sustainability
▪ Pueblo Viejo receives environmental license
for new tailings storage facility
▪ 8% reduction in TRIFR3 year-on-year
▪ 12% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions
versus H1 2022
▪ Successful reintroduction of 16 white rhinos
into the Garamba National Park in DRC
Delivering Value
▪ 7% increase in operating cash flow over Q1 to
$832 million
▪ 143% increase in net earnings per share over
Q1 to $0.17 and 36% increase in adjusted net
earnings per share2 to $0.19 for Q2
▪ $0.10 per share dividend declared
BARRICK SECOND QUARTER 2023 2 PRESS RELEASE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The massive Pueblo Viejo expansion project is making
significant progress with the process plant currently ramping
up to full capacity. The plant expansion and associated new
tailings storage facility will extend the Tier One 11 mine’s life to
beyond 2040 and is designed to sustain gold production
above 800,000 ounces pear year (100% basis) going
forward.12 In Papua New Guinea, the resolution of the tax
dispute has allowed us to work toward the re-opening of the
Porgera gold mine by the end of the year 13, with a potential
Tier One production profile, while the prefeasibility study on a
Super Pit at Lumwana is driving its transformation into
another Tier One asset, capable of producing into the 2060s.
In Pakistan, Barrick continues to make solid progress on the
Reko Diq project. Reko Diq is targeting first production in
2028, at the same time that the Lumwana expansion is
expected to be completed. Together, these projects will
elevate Barrick into the premier league of copper producers,
in line with its strategy of significantly expanding its copper
portfolio.
Exploration, traditionally Barrick’s key growth driver, is
advancing significant resource and reserve growth
opportunities at Carlin, Cortez and Turquoise Ridge in
Nevada, Veladero in Argentina and Loulo, Kibali and
Lumwana in Africa. Barrick is also continuing to expand its
global exploration footprint and has consolidated new
prospective ground holdings in the USA, Canada, the
Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile, Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire.
“Our asset base is the best in the business and it gives us a
platform from which we can clearly see and plan for the
future, managing the challenges and maximizing the
opportunities. At the halfway mark of this year, we’ve again
advanced significantly towards our goal of building the world’s
most valued gold and copper mining company, and we have
the strategy, the means and the motivation to achieve that,”
Bristow said.
BARRICK DECLARES Q2 DIVIDEND
Barrick today announced the declaration of a dividend of $0.10 per share for the second quarter of 2023.
The dividend is consistent with the company’s Performance
Dividend Policy announced at the start of 2022.
The Q2 2023 dividend will be paid on September 15, 2023 to
shareholders of record at the close of business on August 31,
2023.
“As a result of the continuing overall strength of our business
and balance sheet, we have maintained the distribution of a
robust base dividend to our shareholders, while our
Performance Dividend Policy provides the potential for
additional upside going forward,” said senior executive vice-
president and chief financial officer Graham Shuttleworth.
THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF RESPONSIBLE MINING
Effective and equitable socio-economic development worldwide would not be possible without the
transformative contribution of responsible mining, Mark Bristow said at the group’s third annual
Sustainability Update on July 25.
Bristow said Barrick’s sustainability strategy was geared to
the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
and in line with its commitment to transparency, its recently
published Sustainability Report for 2022 showed how its
operations contributed to or impacted on specific SDGs.
“We believe mining is the flywheel of development and
therefore the entire industry is essential to the achievement of
the SDGs,” he said.
Barrick’s Sustainability Executive, Grant Beringer, said the
group was also making progress towards complete
conformance with the latest best practices, including the
International Council on Mining and Metals’ Performance
Expectations, the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold
Mining Principles and the Global Industry Standard on
Tailings Management. Barrick continues to meet or exceed its
environmental targets, including recycling and reusing water
— up to 83% from 80% in 2021 — and reducing greenhouse
gas emissions by 12% year-on-year and 6% for 2022.
“We believe the mining industry is a catalyst for socio-
economic development through the infrastructure we build,
the jobs we create, the businesses we support through our
supply chains and the investments we make in local
communities,” Beringer said.
The group’s current key focus areas are: using its purchasing
power to drive down Scope 3 emissions from suppliers;
developing a tool to measure its contribution to the
conservation and regeneration of biodiversity; continuing to
provide ESG raters with the latest sustainability-related
information; and progressing the environmental and social
studies at the giant Reko Diq project in Balochistan, Pakistan,
where it is already delivering on its community development
commitments, far ahead of the targeted first production in
2028.
“Done right, the mining industry is a powerful force for good in
the global drive for social and economic development,”
Bristow said.
BARRICK SECOND QUARTER 2023 3 PRESS RELEASE
FOCUS ON FLEXIBILITY AT NEVADA
With the completion of major maintenance shutdowns at NGM, and a significantly improved
performance from Carlin, the focus on driving flexibility and reducing production risk has intensified.
NGM chairman Mark Bristow says while the superb quality of
the complex’s assets and its enormous untapped potential
make Nevada the value foundation on which operator and
majority shareholder Barrick is growing its business, it has
processing constraints which need to be overcome by
boosting operational flexibility.
“We see at each of the three Tier One assets (Carlin, Cortez
and Turquoise Ridge) multiple opportunities to strengthen the
life of mine with near-mine growth using the current
infrastructure in the midterm (Leeville, Ren), new projects that
can extend the use of the processing facilities (Robertson),
and a long-term portfolio targeting significant brownfields and
greenfields (Fourmile, Turquoise Ridge Underground) to
sustain current production past the 15-year window.”
“We’re planning to achieve this by increasing processing and
mining run times, stepping up development at all the
underground mines, improving and standardizing
maintenance management, identifying and implementing
efficiency initiatives, and tightening control of compliance with
mine plans,” he says.
“Barrick’s mantra is that the best assets need to be managed
by the best people so there’s been an equally strong focus on
building a management team and a workforce with the skills
and orientation required to make the most of the world’s
largest gold mining complex. In this regard, it’s worth noting
that the training center we established at NGM has already
produced more than 170 frontline and support staff
graduates.”
During the past quarter, NGM’s operating muscle was beefed
up with the ahead-of-schedule commissioning of the first
seven of a new 22-unit Komatsu 930 fleet due this year. The
rest of a total of 62 are due to be commissioned over the next
three years.
BARRICK SECOND QUARTER 2023 4 PRESS RELEASE
NGM’s operating muscle has been beefed up with the ahead-of-schedule commissioning of the first seven of a new 22-unit Komatsu 930 fleet due this year.
WHERE WOMEN SHINE
On June 15, Barrick joined the rest of the industry in celebrating the International Day of Women in
Mining. As Mark Bristow notes, however, acknowledging and encouraging the important role women
should be playing in this traditionally male-dominated business is an everyday strategic priority for
Barrick.
“People are the ultimate resource, and we invest the same
amount of attention into finding and developing them as we
do in exploring for mineral resources,” Bristow says. “There’s
a strong commercial as well as a moral motivation to make
gender diversity part of this strategy. The communities in
which we operate include large numbers of capable and
committed women who just need an opportunity to show what
they can contribute.
“That’s why we have recruitment drives and training programs
specifically targeted at women as well as initiatives to raise
awareness of the value of female economic empowerment in
their communities.
“At our Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic, for
example, women represented 51% of new hires and 35% of
internal promotions last year, and 23% of its workforce is now
female. Across the group we had almost 3,000 female
employees, representing 12% of our global workforce at the
end of 2022, with 18% of management positions and 16% of
senior management positions being held by women. We’re
working hard to make that proportion larger.”
LUMWANA’S BURIED TREASURE
HOW BARRICK CREATES VALUE BY UNCOVERING POTENTIAL
Barrick’s post-merger focus on developing a clear understanding of the geological structures
underlying its assets has unlocked enormous potential across the group, most recently at the 100%
owned Lumwana copper mine in Zambia.
The transformation of this mine into a potential Tier One
operation with a significant free cash flow and a life
expectancy into the 2060s is well under way, with the
accelerated pre-feasibility study scheduled for completion
towards the end of next year. Pre-construction will start in
2025 with 2028 targeted for first production. Concurrent with
the expansion, the existing process plant will be upgraded to
support the new mine life.
“Resource conversion of the Chimiwungo Super Pit extension
has started and the results to date have confirmed the
deposit’s potential to provide the foundation for the Lumwana
expansion project. Meanwhile resource definition drilling at
the near-surface, low-strip Kamisengo deposit has shown
that it can support the process plant feed during the stripping
phase of the super pit,” says Sebastiaan Bock, chief
operating officer of Barrick’s Africa & Middle East region.
Mark Bristow says when the new Lumwana and Reko Diq
both come on stream, which is currently expected in 2028,
they will promote Barrick to the premier league of copper
producers alongside its peerless gold portfolio.
“Both these projects demonstrate Barrick’s unique ability to
extract every ounce or pound of value from assets already in
its portfolio,” he says.
BARRICK SECOND QUARTER 2023 5 PRESS RELEASE
ORGANIC GROWTH IN MINERAL RESERVES SUPPORTS
BARRICK’S 10-YEAR PRODUCTION PROFILE
Exploration continues to be the driving force that sets Barrick apart from its peers by delivering
significant and sustained growth in attributable, proven and probable reserves.
“Since the 2019 merger with Randgold, we’ve replaced 125%
of the gold depleted by mining (exclusive of divestments and
acquisitions on a gold equivalent basis)14 by unlocking the full
value of Barrick’s assets and successfully expanding the
asset base through brownfields exploration,” says Simon
Bottoms, mineral resource management and evaluation
executive.
“One of the big advantages of having high-quality assets in
the world’s most prospective regions is that we have a long
replacement planning runway. A key group deliverable is the
organic replacement of depletion on a rolling three-year
basis. Our focus for the rest of this year is on building the
mineral resources that will serve as the foundation for future
conversion into reserves.”
In Nevada, Barrick continues to work on multiple Tier One
targets that are expected to materially grow the resource and
reserve potential of one of the world's most endowed mining
complexes. In the Africa & Middle East region, resource
conversion drilling at Kibali, Yalea at Loulo-Gounkoto and
Bulyanhulu is expected to again replace depletion this year.
“Looking ahead to 2024, the completion of the prefeasibility
study on the Lumwana Super Pit expansion project and the
updated feasibility study on the Reko Diq project in Pakistan
is expected to deliver organic growth over and above annual
depletion in the group’s mineral reserves. Next year’s reserve
growth is also expected to be supported by the completion of
conversion drilling in the greater Leeville complex and
elsewhere at NGM,” says Bottoms.
BARRICK SECOND QUARTER 2023 6 PRESS RELEASE
A PROUD HISTORY, A BRIGHT FUTURE
Barrick marked its 40th birthday this year, celebrating its growth from the modest, small-scale
operation started by Canadian mining pioneer Peter Munk in the early 1980s.
When Barrick listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May
2, 1983, it had a market capitalization of C$100 million and
produced 30,000 ounces of gold in its first full year of
production. Since its merger with Randgold in 2019, the
company aspires to be the world’s most valued gold and
copper business with the best assets managed by the best
people and delivering the best returns and benefits for all its
stakeholders.
Barrick today has a multi billion dollar market capitalization
and produced 4.1 million ounces of gold and 440 million
pounds of copper in 2022 1 from a mine and project portfolio
spanning 19 countries.
BRINGING BACK WHITE RHINOS TO THE DRC
Barrick was the sole donor in the recent translocation of 16 southern white rhinos to the Democratic
Republic of the Congo’s Garamba National Park, near our Kibali Gold Mine, in collaboration with the
Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), African Parks and &Beyond Phinda
Private Game Reserve in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, from where the rhinos were sourced. Northern
white rhinos were last seen in the park in 2006 and are now considered extinct.
This latest sustainability initiative forms part of Barrick’s long-
standing partnership with African Parks and Garamba, which
has seen the company provide more than $2.5 million for
tracking collars, fuel for observation planes, rescue and
rehabilitation programs as well as improvements to critical
infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
Additionally, Barrick will fund the translocation of a further 60
white rhinos from South Africa to Garamba over the next
three years. The project is aligned with Barrick’s biodiversity
strategy which places importance on restoring and
conserving areas with high conservation value and the
species within those habitats.
BARRICK SECOND QUARTER 2023 7 PRESS RELEASE
Ringing the closing bell of the Toronto Stock Exchange to commemorate Barrick’s 40th anniversary.
A COMPREHENSIVE MULTI-YEAR PROCESS EXTENDS
THE LIFE OF PUEBLO VIEJO TO BEYOND 2040
The Barrick-operated Pueblo Viejo mine continues to advance the engineering design for the El
Naranjo tailings storage facility (TSF) project which will extend its life to 2040 and beyond. 12 The plant
expansion and associated new TSF is designed to sustain gold production above 800,000 ounces per
year (100% basis) going forward.12
Speaking at a local media briefing on July 27, Mark Bristow
said that the comprehensive engineering, environmental and
community process, conducted over several years, would
enable Pueblo Viejo to double the enormous contribution it
had already made to the Dominican Republic’s economy.
In line with its commitment to transparency, Bristow detailed
the process leading up to the issuance of the environmental
licence recently received for the new TSF. This started with a
comprehensive site selection in line with the Global Industry
Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) and in
consultation with the Government and communities.
Following the site selection process, an Environmental and
Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) was completed which
considered potential impacts associated with the preferred
and alternative sites. This involved the completion of
numerous specialist studies undertaken by independent in-
country and international experts, including an independent
peer review.
The company consulted with interested and affected parties
over the course of four years, including more than 3,000
community engagements and two open public participation
meetings. In line with the company’s commitment to
transparency and best practice, open public meetings were
advertised in local and national media and allowed sufficient
opportunity for all parties to raise concerns, questions and
comments throughout the process.
“Mining is the driver for global development and to date,
Pueblo Viejo has paid a total of $3.2 billion in direct and
indirect taxes since commencing commercial production in
2013. The extension of the mine’s life will allow Pueblo Viejo
to continue being a major creator of value for the Dominican
Republic and its people far into the future,” Bristow said.
BARRICK SECOND QUARTER 2023 8 PRESS RELEASE
Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow and Pueblo Viejo president Juana Barceló speak to local media during a briefing on July 27.