How would you assess Barrick’s performance in 2023?

As we disclosed at the time of our Q3 results, we expect our annual gold production to be marginally below the 4.2 to 4.6 million oz/y guidance range we announced at the start of 2023. This is primarily due to the delay in receiving the “Record of Decision” from the United States Bureau of Land Management in relation to the permitting of the Goldrush project, changes in the Crossroads open pit model and some process interruptions to address long term maintenance requirements (all in Nevada).

Furthermore, in the LATAM region, equipment issues hindered the ramp-up of our expansion project at our Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic.

The “Record of Decision” at Goldrush was eventually received in late December 2023 and we are expecting to complete the ramp up at Pueblo Viejo by the end of Q1 2024 meaning these issues are largely behind us. In Africa, we have had another steady performance with attribution production at the 1.5 million oz/y mark, consistent with prior years and with all mines in the region expected to deliver on their guidance for the 2023 year.

As previously communicated, our 2023 copper production is expected to be within guidance albeit at the low end of the 420 to 470 million pounds range. Can you discuss the importance that copper is poised to play in Barrick’s strategy?

We plan to double our copper production by the end of the decade and continue to increase it to an estimated 1 billion pounds or 450,000 t/y by 2031. This will assist Barrick in delivering on its mission to build and operate world-class assets but at the same time continue to diversify our earnings as well as add to the global drive for a more sustainable, green economy. We believe that there remains significant upside potential in the gold industry and the copper operations are strategic and additive to that.

Reko Diq in Pakistan is positioned to rank as one the world’s top 10 copper mines when it reaches full production and the pre-feasibility study on the Lumwana Super Pit Expansion is projected to deliver a potential of 240,000 t/y of copper production over a 36-year LOM.

The accelerated Lumwana work program is scheduled to deliver a full feasibility study by the end of 2024, and following construction we are expecting production from the Super Pit to start in 2028. The Reko Diq project also remains on track to deliver an updated feasibility study by the end of 2024. With ongoing operations and established programs in Mali, the DRC, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, and Egypt which areas of Africa does Barrick forecast growth to come from in 2024?

We believe Africa remains largely untapped despite the natural resource riches it is endowed with. As a multinational organization with a long history of discovering, building and operating big mines successfully in Africa, we remain best placed to unlock the vast potential of the continent.

As such we still see great potential for world-class discoveries around our operations and further afield in the Africa and Middle East region, from Zambia in the south to Saudi Arabia in the north. With its wealth of resources and our strong partnerships there, Tanzania is a particularly promising candidate for our next multi-million ounce discovery. What makes an attractive target for M&A or JVs for Barrick?

Any M&A target or JV opportunity needs to be more appealing and additive to us on a holistic organizational basis compared to what we can deliver through our own geologically focused and proven track-record of organic growth through exploration. If there is one thing that sets Barrick apart, it has been our ability to deliver sustained and significant growth in our reserves. Since the merger with Randgold in 2019, we’ve replaced 125% of our reserves.

Looking to the future, we expect reserve replacement and our organic growth projects to increase production by some 30% gold equivalent ounces by the end of the decade. We are a global business and we pride ourselves on our ability to operate in most places in the world where we can find quality assets, bar a few limited exceptions. We have built and are still operating some of the largest and most successful mines in Africa which remains a highly prospective region for us.