Barrick Presses On With Asset Sales in the Face of Gold’s Rally – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – July 27, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. plans to forge ahead with efforts to divest peripheral assets — starting with its stake in the Kalgoorlie Super Pit in Australia — even as surging gold prices spur the highest profit in three years.

In its second-quarter earnings statement Wednesday, the world’s largest gold producer said it made $968 million in debt repayments this year, almost half its target, and will continue pursuing non-core asset sales.

Earnings excluding one-time items matched analysts’ estimates, while net income was the highest since the first quarter of 2013. In a mixed bag of results for the sector, Newmont Mining Corp. and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. beat estimates while Goldcorp Inc. and Kinross Gold Corp. missed.

Gold producers have been reining in costs and some have been selling holdings after prices dropped for three straight years. Their second-quarter earnings releases show this process hasn’t abated now that gold prices are on the rise.

The announcements contrast with copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc., which on Tuesday posted a seventh straight quarterly loss and said it no longer needs to sell key assets to contain debt.

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