Barrick Gold Corporation – Page 21

Kelvin Dushnisky leaves Barrick Gold for top job at AngloGold Ashanti – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 24, 2018)

July 24, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is losing its long-serving, number two executive, with the world’s biggest gold company seemingly blindsided by his departure.

After a 16-year run at Barrick, Kelvin Dushnisky is leaving his role as president, to become chief executive of South African gold major, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.

His departure comes at a time when Barrick is struggling with a dwindling reserve base, locked in a geopolitical standoff in Tanzania and grappling with a flat gold price. Barrick did not announce a successor for Mr. Dushnisky on Monday, saying it will name one in “due course.”

End of the rainbow: The future of gold mining in Nevada – by Suzanne Featherston (Elko Free Press – July 21, 2018)

July 23, 2018

https://elkodaily.com/

ELKO — Boom. Bust. Rush. Crash. These words are associated with the cyclical nature of the world’s minerals extraction industry known for making and breaking companies, economies, towns and fortunes.

Nevada – where mining has existed before statehood — has witnessed these ups and downs over time but now is experiencing a rather rare phenomenon in the mining industry.

“There has been a gold rush in Nevada for close to 50 years,” said John Muntean, an economic geologist and associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, who works for the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology.

AngloGold poaches new CEO from rival Barrick Gold – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – July 23, 2018)

July 23, 2018

https://www.ft.com/

AngloGold Ashanti has moved to fill the hole left by the departure of its chief executive by poaching a senior director from rival Barrick Gold.

AngloGold, which is listed in Johannesburg, said Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky would be joining the company in September, ending the search to replace Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan.

Mr Venkatakrishnan announced in April he was leaving AngloGold to to join Vedanta Resources the holding company of Indian metal tycoon Anil Agarwal.

Barrick Gold has a problem: it is running out of gold – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 21, 2018)

July 23, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It’s not just a Barrick problem, either: many major producers have seen their reserves fall dramatically, raising concerns of a supply shock

Gold financier Pierre Lassonde thought it was time to cash in his chips. Thanks to a smart investment in a Nevada gold mine, shares in his royalty company, Franco Nevada, which he ran alongside his buddy Seymour Schulich, had run up from 65 cents a share to $17. By early 1988, Mr. Lassonde was ready to sell the company.

But after talking to the geologist who discovered the mine, he had second thoughts. Brian Meikle told him there was a humongous ore body yet to be exploited. “The discovery of three lifetimes” is how he described it. Similar logic had persuaded Barrick Gold Corp.’s Peter Munk and Bob Smith to buy the property about a year earlier.

That conversation with Mr. Meikle was a defining moment for Mr. Lassonde. He decided to hold on to the company. “[Franco] bought it for $2-million,” he said of the royalty on the mine. “If I had known, I would have bought it personally.” Given the wonderfully apt name Goldstrike, the mine would become one of the biggest in history. Since 1987, it has produced more than 45 million ounces of gold. Franco’s investment has yielded more than a billion dollars.

Barrick Gold Is the Undisclosed Bidder for Detour Gold – by Scott Deveau (Bloomberg News – July 20, 2018)

July 20, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is the undisclosed gold miner who was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement alongside activist investor John Paulson to discuss potentially buying Detour Gold Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

While Barrick’s level of interest in Detour is unclear, neither Paulson nor Barrick signed the confidentiality agreements, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. Paulson has held previous discussions about Detour with Barrick, they added.

A representative for Detour declined to comment. Representatives for Barrick, Detour and Paulson declined to comment.

Barrick trims copper guidance, gold forecast intact – by Mariaan Webb(MiningWeekly.com – July 12, 2018)

July 12, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

Toronto, Canada-headquartered Barrick Gold has maintained its gold production guidance for 2018 at between 4.5-million and 5-million ounces, but has slashed 40-million pounds off its copper production guidance, owing to operational challenges at its biggest copper mine – Lumwana, in Zambia.

The miner trimmed its copper production guidance from between 385-million and 450-million pounds, to a range of 345-million to 410-million pounds, at higher-than-initially-thought costs. The all-in sustaining cost (AISC) will increase to between $2.55/lb to 2.85/lb, from an initial guidance of $2.30/lb to $2.60/lb.

The revisions to the copper production and cost guidance primarily reflect operational challenges at Lumwana in the first half of the year, Barrick explained in its preliminary second quarter results announcement, released after the Canadian markets closed on Wednesday.

Barrick forges closer ties with Chinese partner in bid to revive South American mine – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 9, 2018)

July 9, 2018

https://business.financialpost.com/

Barrick’s deal with Shandong shows how Chinese companies have in recent years stepped up their involvement with Canadian mining companies

Barrick Gold Corp. may be the largest gold miner in the world, but that hasn’t stopped it from asking a state-owned Chinese conglomerate to help in its decades-long quest to dig up a vast gold deposit near the border between Argentina and Chile.

On Monday, the Toronto-based company announced China’s Shandong Gold Group Co. Ltd. will study whether it makes sense to build an open pit, heap leach mine squarely inside Argentina — after Chilean authorities last year ordered the closure of mining activities on its side of the border.

The announcement, which came while Barrick’s senior management team visited China, shows the company’s growing reliance on Shandong as a partner. In April 2017, Shandong paid $960 million and formed a 50/50 joint venture in Barrick’s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, and the two agreed to explore future opportunities together.

Acacia net cash restored after posting solid first half production – by David McKay (MiningMX – July 6, 2018)

July 6, 2018

https://www.miningmx.com/

ACACIA Resources all but restored its net cash balance to safer levels following second quarter gold production which totalled 133,778 ounces which means the group is on-track to meet its full year half production guidance of between 435,000 oz to 475,000 oz.

The group’s cash balance increased to $120m from $13m in the first quarter taking its net cash to $63m at quarter-end. It was about $50m at the close of the first quarter. “We are pleased to report another strong operating performance in the second quarter,” said Peter Geleta, interim CEO of Acacia Resources, in a statement.

Production for the six months ended June 30 was 254,759 oz and has been achieved in difficult circumstances for the group considering it scaled back Bulyanhulu after the mine was prohibited by Tanzanian authorities last year from exporting gold-in-concentrate.

Acacia Mining’s Tanzania tax dispute drags on (Reuters Africa – June 25, 2018)

June 25, 2018

https://af.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Acacia Mining said on Monday its majority shareholder Barrick Gold would not provide a new deadline for the completion of talks to end a crippling dispute over taxes in Tanzania after failing to meet a mid-year target to do so.

Barrick, which is negotiating on Acacia’s behalf with the Tanzanian government, had previously said it would provide an agreement for approval by Acacia’s board by the end of June.

But in its own statement on Sunday, Barrick said talks continued and backed away from providing a new deadline “in order to allow the process to continue in an orderly manner.”

Tanzania cancels license of Barrick, Glencore nickel project – by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala (Reuters U.S. – May 12, 2018)

May 14, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania has revoked a retention license for an undeveloped nickel project jointly owned by Barrick Gold Corp and London-listed miner Glencore Plc as part of enforcement of a new mining regime.

The license for the Kabanga nickel project in northwestern Tanzania was among 11 retention licences canceled by the government under the Mining (Mineral Rights) Regulations of 2018, which were approved in January.

A retention license is granted to holders of a prospecting license after they identify a mineral deposit within the prospecting area which is potentially of commercial significance but cannot be immediately developed due to technical constraints, adverse market conditions or other economic factors.

Barrick makes small bet on junior with hope for big payoff – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 10, 2018)

May 10, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Welcome to the era of the micro deal. In a transaction about as far away as one could imagine from the multibillion-dollar deals of the past great commodity boom, Barrick Gold Corp. is taking a tiny bet on a junior mining company.

On Wednesday, the world’s biggest gold producer announced a 19.9-per-cent investment in Vancouver-based Midas Gold Corp. worth US$38-million. Barrick is acquiring 46.5-million shares at $1.06 a share, a 9-per-cent premium to its Tuesday close.

It’s the latest example of a senior gold company making a so-called “strategic investment” in a junior, with the hope that it will eventually pay off in the form of much needed added production.

Is overseas expansion on the menu for Saudi mining colossus Ma’aden? – by Richard Wachman (Arab News – May 6, 2018)

May 7, 2018

http://www.arabnews.com/

LONDON: Saudi mining colossus Ma’aden is riding a wave of investor confidence as profitability is driven by robust commodity prices, growth in production across its minerals suite of phosphate, gold, copper and aluminum, as well as a cost-cutting program that has strengthened the balance sheet.

Now, there is market chatter that the next chapter of the growth story could be overseas. Some say Ma’aden will one day follow SABIC, KSA’s petrochemicals champion, by expanding its footprint in growth segments abroad, although its core business will always be at home.

“At the moment there is plenty of growth to go for in Saudi,” said Yousef Husseini, a broker at EFG Hermes in Cairo. “But in the longer term, the company could shift its focus to global expansion similar to what SABIC has done in the last couple of decades as local market opportunities decline.”

Barrick, NovaGold project in Alaska gets key environmental approval – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 30, 2018)

April 30, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) and NovaGold Resources’ (TSX, NYSE-MKT: NG) proposed gold mine in Alaska has received a long-waited final environmental clearance, granted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Canadian miners said Monday.

The Dolin project, one of the world’s largest, highest grade, known gold deposits, is expected to require a $6.7 billion investment from the two owners, which are developing in assets in a 50-50 partnership.

Located in in Southwest Alaska, the proposed mine contains 39 million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated (M&I) resource categories.

Green future for gold company: Barrick Gold exec touts “digital transformation” of mining corporation at CIM Sudbury meeting – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – April 24, 2018)

April 25, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Barrick Gold isn’t alone in their plans to make their mining operations more automated and ecological. The plans to go green are not a secret, but Denis Gratton, vice-president of automation, spoke at the April 19 meeting of the Sudbury chapter of the Canadian Institute of Mining to elaborate on the company’s strategy.

Their plans include everything from chemical leaching to autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence in a ground-up approach to change how the company does business.

For starters, Gratton said the company had to look at innovation as a whole, rather than merely changing a few machines or methods of working. To do that, the company established its own innovation team to work on projects in house and explore third-party partnerships.

The Northern Miner’s video tribute to Peter Munk (Northern Miner – April 25, 2018)

April 25, 2018

To celebrate the life of Peter Munk (1927-2018), founder of Barrick Gold and recipient of The Northern Miner’s Lifetime Achievement Award, we have prepared this video tribute (see detailed slide notes below).

Read Trish Saywell’s feature story on the life of this remarkable man, “Mining titan and philanthropist Peter Munk’s lifetime of achievement.” https://bit.ly/2Fhdv6V

Peter Munk slide notes and timeline:

1927 – Born Nov. 8 in Budapest, Hungary, to a wealthy Jewish family.

1944 – Munk family flees Nazi-occupied Hungary, ultimately arriving in Switzerland on the Kastner train, which carried roughly 1,700 Jews to safety.

1948 – Comes to Canada on student visa.

1952 – Earns Electrical Engineering degree from University of Toronto.