Barrick Gold Corporation – Page 24

Barrick Gold focuses on discipline after merger misstep – by Niall McGhee (Globe and Mail – February 23, 2018)

February 23, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

As it continues to deal with repercussions from an ill-fated copper deal in Africa, don’t expect Barrick Gold Corp. to rush into any major mergers and acquisitions deals any time soon.

“When times are good, companies overpay for mediocre assets and invest in projects with low returns,” said executive chairman John Thornton in a webcast to investors on Thursday.

“At Barrick, this will not happen. We are putting in place the discipline to make certain this is the case.” Mr. Thornton said that Barrick had examined a number of external M&A opportunities last year, but passed.

Barrick clings to top gold miner title as Newmont falls short by only 125 gold bars – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg/Financial Post – February 22, 2018)

February 22, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

But Newmont reiterated its outlook that exceeds Barrick’s forecasted output for the next four years

A gap of about 50,000 ounces — or about 125 gold bars — is all that stands in the way of Newmont Mining Corp. from claiming the title of world’s biggest gold miner.

The Greenwood Village, Colorado-based miner said Thursday its 2017 gold production was 5.27 million ounces, ending the year in a near dead-heat with industry leader Barrick Gold Corp., which produced 5.32 million ounces.

However, Newmont reiterated its outlook that exceeds Barrick’s forecasted output for the next four years. Goldberg has increasingly highlighted his company’s growth prospects to investors, as well as Newmont’s commitment to lure investors away from ETFs with high dividends.

Newmont-Barrick Race for Top Gold Crown Comes Down to a Decimal – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – February 21, 2018)

February 21, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Gold geeks will have to wait for Newmont Mining Corp. to disclose one more decimal place to see if it overtook Barrick Gold Corp. as the world’s biggest bullion producer.

On Wednesday, the Greenwood Village, Colorado-based company said it produced 5.3 million ounces of gold last year, essentially tying the output of Toronto-based Barrick, which last week reported 5.32 million ounces.

Whether that’s enough for it to squeak ahead of Barrick depends on the rounding. A spokesman for Newmont, Omar Jabara, said the more precise number will be given Thursday when the company posts fourth-quarter earnings and updates its production guidance.

Tanzania’s new mining law will compel foreign companies to boost local financial firms – by Abdi Latif Dahir (Quartz Africa – February 2, 2018)

February 20, 2018

https://qz.com/

Tanzania is set to overhaul its extractive industry after the government passed a new law that posits strict guidelines for foreign companies.

The new law gives companies three months to comply with the regulations, while also making them apprise the government of how they are enacting these changes.

As part of reform, the government wants to enhance the competitiveness of local mining and financial institutions by setting minimum employment levels and in-country spend for foreign firms, while also providing a structural monitoring and reporting system that ensures companies deliver on these objectives.

Exclusive: Acacia, China miners in talks over Tanzania gold deal – sources – by Nicole Mordant and John Tilak (Reuters U.S. – February 16, 2018)

February 17, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

VANCOUVER/TORONTO (Reuters) – China’s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd and Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd are in separate talks with Acacia Mining Plc to form a joint venture for the London-listed company’s gold mines in Tanzania, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Acacia’s majority shareholder, Barrick Gold Corp, is involved in the discussions, the people said. Acacia, caught in a near year-long tax dispute with the government of Tanzania, has also has held talks with state-owned China National Gold Group about such a partnership, two of the people said, although it was not clear if those talks are ongoing.

Shares in London-listed Acacia, which were down around 3 percent, rebounded after the Reuters report to trade up as much as 3.4 percent. They closed down 0.9 percent, at 162.95 pence.

Barrick mulls selling copper business as it faces lower production, higher costs – by Niall McGhee (Globe and Mail – February 16, 2018)

February 16, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is contemplating getting out of the copper business. President Kelvin Dushnisky said a sale of the copper assets is a possibility, although the company is not running a sales process at this time.

“Would we consider divestment in some point in time? Yes,” Mr. Dushnisky said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

Barrick acquired its copper assets primarily through its US$7.3-billion purchase of Equinox Minerals Ltd. in 2011. The high-priced acquisition, timed shortly before a global slump in metals prices, proved to be a financial disaster, as Barrick wrote down the value of these assets by US$3.8-billion less than two years later.

Agnico Eagle CEO bullish on Canada as rivals falter overseas – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – February 16, 2018)

February 16, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

Gold prices are rising after a prolonged period of sluggish performance, but not all gold producers will be able to use 2018 to grow — as three earnings announcements released this week by senior Canadian gold companies demonstrated.

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer, cut its 2018 production outlook to 4.5 million to 5 million ounces whereas Goldcorp Inc., at nearly half the size, kept its production outlook unchanged at 2.5 million ounces. Meanwhile, the smallest of the pack Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., increased its production guidance to 1.53 million ounces.

The different growth outlooks not only reflect the difference in size between the companies, but also varying approaches to risk management — whether related to the geography of operations, the approach to acquisitions and explorations or other aspects of management.

Barrick Cuts Gold Output Forecast for Eighth Potential Drop – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – February 15, 2018)

February 15, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corp., the bullion producer that once towered over rivals, continues to shrink. The Toronto-based miner is predicting its eighth straight decline in annual production as it takes less gold out of the ground at its main mines.

The company expects to produce 300,000 fewer ounces in 2018 than it had previously forecast. It now projects total production will be 4.5 million to 5 million ounces this year, compared with a previous forecast of 4.8 million to 5.3 million ounces. Total gold output in 2017 was 5.32 million ounces.

Barrick also raised its forecast for all-in-sustaining costs to a range of $765 to $815 an ounce this year, compared with previous guidance of $710 to $770.

Barrick sees drop in gold production ahead, putting its No. 1 spot at risk – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 15, 2018)

February 15, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is on track to lose its long-held crown as the world’s largest gold producer after forecasting production for this year that will likely fall short of U.S. competitor Newmont Mining Corp.

In a release announcing its fourth-quarter results after the markets closed on Wednesday, Toronto-based Barrick said it expects to produce between 4.5 million to 5 million ounces of gold in 2018. In December, Newmont predicted that its 2018 gold production will be between 4.9 million to 5.4 million ounces.

While Colorado-based Newmont had already passed Barrick in terms of market capitalization, it had lagged Barrick in production.

‘Curveballs’ force Acacia Mining to ditch dividend, post $700M loss amid Tanzania dispute – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – February 13, 2018)

February 13, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

From the Democratic Republic of Congo to Tanzania, a raft of new laws were passed in 2017 that challenge how mining companies have hewed to previous agreements

Acacia Mining produces gold and copper, both of which are surging in price, so why did the company ditch its dividend and post a $700 million loss?

“We were thrown … a lot of curveballs,” chief executive Peter Geleta said on an investor earnings call on Monday. “In fact, I don’t think many people would have faced what we faced last year in their whole careers.”

He blamed the company’s woes on the Tanzanian government, which wants to renegotiate how it shares in the wealth from minerals extracted inside its borders.

Gold Giant Barrick Faces Grilling After Fall to Bottom of Pack – by Daniel Bochove (February 12, 2018)

February 12, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. executives will have some explaining to do when the company releases full-year results Wednesday.

Even with rising gold prices and a strengthened balance sheet, the world’s largest gold producer left shareholders with the worst returns among its top North American peers last year and the third-worst performance in the 15-company BI Global Senior Gold Valuation Peers index.

That’s a sharp reversal of the heady gains a year earlier when the Toronto-based company appeared unable to put a foot wrong. In 2016, Barrick’s Canadian shares soared 110 percent as it unveiled a sweeping plan to streamline the company. That same year its biggest rival, Newmont Mining Corp., rose 89 percent.

Northern Ontario First Nation wants gold exploration permit quashed in case that could have impact on Ring of Fire – by Jorge Barrera (CBC News Indigenous – January 27, 2018)

January 29, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/

Mining company pushed to end consultation after Barrick Gold came knocking

No one kept a record of what was said during the meeting between mining company Landore Resources Canada and the Ontario ministry in January 2016, but at stake was a potential deal with Barrick Gold, the largest gold mining firm in the world.

Landore, a subsidiary of Landore Resources Ltd., based in the Guernsey Islands, U.K., was eyeing potential gold deposits in an area with two lakes about 40 kilometres from Eabametoong First Nation where several families had camps, traplines and burial sites. Eabametoong First Nation is about 350 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont.

The mining company requested the “urgent meeting” with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines because it wanted to wrap up consultations and obtain a permit to explore for gold, according to court records.

Robert Friedland tells Frank Holmes why copper is ready to run – by Frank Holmes (U.S. Global Investors – January 29, 2018)

January 29, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Interview syndicated from Frank Holme’s Frank Talk

Last week the U.S. Global Investors office was visited by a living legend in the junior mining industry, billionaire founder and executive chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, Robert Friedland. In case you don’t know, back in the mid-1970s, Robert was caretaker of an apple orchard south of Portland that one of his buddies from Reed College would often visit. That buddy’s name was Steve Jobs, who later went on to found a little company he named—what else?—Apple.

Before Robert and Steve Jobs began palling around, Jobs was known as shy and withdrawn. It was Robert who taught him his skills in what’s been described by many as “reality distortion.” Having seen numerous speeches by Robert over the years, I can attest to his masterful ability to utterly command a room of hundreds with his electric charisma.

Some of that charisma must have rubbed off on Jobs, helping the future iPhone innovator evolve into the shrewd, larger-than-life business leader he’s celebrated as today.

Revamped Barrick harkens back to founding principles as ‘new generation’ of discovery, partnerships beckon – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – January 23, 2018)

January 23, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The world’s largest gold producer by output Barrick Gold is looking towards a more sustainable future based on a leaner, more tightly owned portfolio, with future growth increasingly hinging on forming synergistic partnerships with former mining rivals.

With the gold price off to a strong start in the first few weeks of 2018, up 2.32% since the start of the year and trending above the psychological $1 300/oz mark, Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky told attendees at a Vancouver mining conference that the company had come full circle in the aftermath following gold’s historic bull run through the 2011s.

He recounted those years as ranking among the most difficult in the gold major’s history. “It was partnerships that laid the foundation for Barrick. Partnership has been at the heart of our culture from Barrick’s earliest days, personified by visionary entrepreneur Peter Munk, and operations manager Bob Smith,” he said.

Regulator orders Barrick to close Chilean side of Pascua-Lama project – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2018)

January 19, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Chile’s environmental regulator has ruled that Barrick Gold Corp. must shut down its above-ground operations on the Chilean side of its massive Pascua-Lama gold and silver project.

But the latest admonishment by Chile is not expected to overly affect Barrick’s plans for Pascua-Lama, which sits at an elevation between 3,800 to 5,200 metres in the Andes, and straddles the border between Chile and Argentina.

For some time now, Barrick has been exploring the possibility of restarting the suspended project by building an underground mine on the Argentinian side, which may be less detrimental to the environment.