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 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). Turquoise Ridge had a stronger performance relative to 2022, thanks to a successful turnaround exercise by its new management team and the commissioning of its third shaft. The lessons learned at Turquoise Ridge, mainly about the critical importance of teamwork and planned maintenance, are now being rolled out at the other Nevada mines.

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

In Africa, we have had another steady performance with 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 lb/y range.

Can you discuss the importance of copper in Barrick’s future strategy?

We plan to double our copper production by the end of the decade and continue to increase it to an estimated 1 billion lb/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 over a 36-year life of mine, from a plant expansion that will increase our processing capacity to 50 million t/y.

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.

What factors could lead to a boost in gold production in Nevada?

Nevada Gold Mines has quality assets and enormous potential, making it the value foundation on which we intend to grow the business, but it is impacted by processing constraints which need to be overcome by boosting operational flexibility.

We see multiple opportunities at each of Carlin, Cortez and Turquoise Ridge 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 our 15-year plan.

We are 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.