How would you assess Barrick’s performance in 2022?

We are continuing to build our balance sheet, our dividend policy is delivering sustainable returns and we have shored up our life-of-mine plans to ensure that our 10-year production profile remains intact. Our successful exploration programs are feeding high-quality prospects into an already bulging pipeline and we expect to grow our reserves net of depletion again this year.

Nevada Gold Mines is Barrick’s value foundation. As far as the original objectives of the joint venture are concerned, I can safely say: Mission Accomplished! We have created a whole that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. From this sound base, NGM can now exploit the wealth of opportunities in its ambit, and we have recruited a future-facing management team – including a new North American regional chief operating officer and a new NGM executive managing director – to lead the company into its new growth phase.

While Nevada is Barrick’s value foundation, our Africa & Middle East region is our most consistent producer of excellent performances on all fronts, as well as a rich store of gold and copper growth opportunities.

What are the primary drivers of Barrick’s future growth, and what kind of balance are hoping to achieve between copper and gold?

Barrick’s core strategy is one of long-term value creation. We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet and to develop our wealth of organic growth projects. Sustainability is the cornerstone of our business, as it has been for the past 20 years. We have adopted a holistic and integrated approach to this critical issue and are not only prioritizing the environment portion of ESG metrics. This is more attuned to the ethical and developmental needs of many of our host countries and is already delivering results.

Key gold projects that will help drive Barrick’s future growth include Goldrush underground at Cortez in Nevada and the Pueblo Viejo expansion in the Dominican Republic. Both projects are expected to secure the Tier One status of these assets for decades to come. On the copper side, key growth projects include Reko Diq in Pakistan and the Lumwana superpit in Zambia.

Barrick was the first gold company to clearly articulate a strategy to grow in copper. We see our copper portfolio as a source of differentiation to our gold industry peers, providing shareholders with meaningful exposure to a key commodity of the future.

Can you touch upon the socio-economic benefits that the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture brings to the state of NV?

NGM is a key partner to the state of Nevada with its workforce of 7,000 making it one of the state’s largest employers. In 2021, it’s total economic contribution to the state, which includes taxes, royalties, salaries and procurement spend, amounted to over US$2.6 billion, with US$8.9 million spent on social investments alone.

NGM continues to invest in people, both current and future employees, through education partnerships and training programs. It supports the College of Southern Nevada and the Clark County School District where high school students can obtain certificates in industrial maintenance or diesel technology, and has renewed its partnership with Discovery Education for the Nevada Department of Education’s outreach program. The company is also working with the University of Nevada and the Great Basin College in Elko to develop mining-centered programs.

What is your outlook for gold production in Nevada?

Based on our five-year attributable profile with costs normalized for current gold prices, increased production will come primarily from the Goldrush ramp up. Escalating volume is also a product of increased Crossroads production out of Cortez. Permitting impacts at Goldrush, Long Canyon, and updated assumptions for Robertson based on our experiences with Goldrush, together with resequencing to optimize the Life of Mines (LOMs), have lowered our near-term production profile versus the prior outlook. However, the impact over the next five years was nearly offset by additions such as Pipeline phases 11 and 12 at Cortez and ounces were increased beyond the 5- and 10-year windows. This updated 5-year outlook also reflects the inflationary impact of energy and key consumables pricing, which we are working diligently to offset.