Barrick Gold Corporation – Page 35

How a crash in metals prices has made 2016 a great year to build a mine – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – February 22, 2016)

February 22, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Earlier this month, Stornoway Diamond Corp. said something that would have been unimaginable a few years ago — its mine is being built ahead of schedule and under budget.

“You can imagine we’re sticking our necks out by saying that, so we have to be pretty confident it’s the case,” Stornoway chief executive Matt Manson said in an interview. “And we are.”

The Montreal-based firm, which is building Quebec’s first diamond mine, moved the completion date up by five months to the end of 2016. It also slashed the construction cost estimate by more than $35 million to $775.4 million.

During the commodity boom, capital cost blowouts became so routine in the mining industry that they became a running joke.

More cuts coming, Barrick says, amid bullion rally – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – February 19, 2016)

February 19, 2016

http://www.thestar.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. shares soared Thursday as the Toronto mining giant pledged further cost cuts and debt slashing amid a mini-rally in the bullion price.

“There’s still a lot of heavy lifting to be done” to tackle the company’s debt load, said Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky on a conference call with analysts.

The world’s largest gold miner may sell additional non-core assets and create new joint ventures and partnerships, following another fourth-quarter net loss, he said.

But the company plans an additional $2 billion in debt reduction this year and $5 billion in reductions in the mid term. In 2015, the miner reduced its total debt by $3.1 billion to $10 billion.

Gold at $1,500 is “very achievable”: Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky (Business Network News – February 18, 2016)

February 19, 2016

http://www.bnn.ca/

The president of the world’s largest gold producer says the $1,500 per ounce call from a recent HSBC report is “very achievable,” as the precious metal enters the early stages of a new bull market.

“I think the fundamentals are really going to show support for the gold price,” said Barrick Gold Corp.’s (ABX.TO 0.00%) Kelvin Dushnisky in an interview with BNN.

Gold futures rallied Thursday as mounting concerns about the stability of global markets and low inflation tapered expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise its key lending rate in March.

Barrick Keeps Eye on Debt With New $2 Billion Reduction Target – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – February 18, 2016)

February 18, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. intends to keep debt in its crosshairs with a plan to cut at least $2 billion this year as the world’s largest producer of the metal seeks to shore up its balance sheet following three annual gold-price declines.

The miner reduced total debt by $3.1 billion last year to $10 billion through measures that included asset sales and cost cuts. In 2016, it may sell additional non-core assets and create new joint ventures and partnerships to help meet its new debt-reduction target, the Toronto-based company said Wednesday in a statement.

“In the medium term, we aim to reduce our debt to below $5 billion,” the company said in the statement. “Philosophically, our goal is to have no debt at all.”

Barrick Gold looks to keep momentum with US$2 billion debt reduction target for 2016 – by Peter Koven (National Post – February 18, 2016)

February 18, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. has set aggressive new targets for debt and cost reduction as it looks to continue momentum after a largely successful 2015.

However, the Toronto-based mining giant also offered up declining production guidance over the next few years. That underscores the challenges facing the entire gold mining industry, which has been on fire this year as prices have jumped.

Barrick said on Wednesday night that it expects to cut its debt load by “at least” US$2 billion in 2016 after reducing it by more than US$3 billion last year. That would take the overall debt down to US$8 billion and eliminate a lot of lingering concerns about Barrick’s balance sheet, which got over-leveraged because of a disastrous $7.3-billion copper acquisition in 2011.

Barrick Gold Corp is back on top as Canada’s best-performing stock and the world’s most valuable gold company – by Danielle Bochove (Financial Post/Bloomberg News – January 29, 2016)

January 29, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. has surged to become Canada’s best-performing stock as a two-month rally in the precious metal gives added lift to the company’s turnaround efforts.

Barrick’s shares are up 29 per cent this year in Toronto, making it the best-performing stock on the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index. It’s also overtaken its two biggest competitors, Goldcorp Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp., in market capitalization, allowing it to reclaim the title of the world’s most valuable gold company.

“Guys like me, on the street, we had given Goldcorp the crown in the senior sector,” Barry Allan, an analyst with Mackie Research Capital Corp., said by phone from Toronto. “And Barrick actually pulled some rabbits out of a hat. Not enough to get them to nirvana but they were seriously making some hard moves and some hard calls.”

Barrick Sees Up to $3 Billion in Impairments on Lower Gold – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – January 22, 2016)

January 22, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest producer of the metal, said it may book as much as $3 billion in impairment charges as a prolonged gold slump forces it to revise its price assumptions for 2016.

A preliminary review shows potential goodwill impairment charges of about $1.8 billion, and asset impairment charges in the range of $1 billion to $1.2 billion, the Toronto-based company said Thursday in a statement. The asset impairments are primarily related to the stalled Pascua-Lama project on the Chile-Argentina border and the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic.

The company lowered its gold price assumption to $1,000 an ounce for 2016 and to $1,200 long term.

Slow Suffocation of the US Mining Space – by Christopher Ecclestone (Investorintel – January 19, 2016)

January 20, 2016

http://investorintel.com/

The old adage about the frog in the boiling water slowly getting cooked without jumping out is a good metaphor for the mining industry in the US over the last 12 months.

While the big story in commodity circles has been the oil price decline, a far more potent force has been the currency moves. The rampant US dollar has “saved” the bacon of many a miner in Australia, Canada, South Africa and elsewhere while brutally pressure-cooking those that are focused on the mining space in the US.

The chart above sourced from US Global Investors shows the last twelve months’ move in the gold price in various currencies. The USD gold price is clearly the laggard while Brazil has been stellar. It’s a pity there are not more Brazilian gold mining opportunities on offer. Ironically the strength of the Real for the preceding five years meant that Brazil was not such a good place for junior explorers to spend their drilling dollar.

Gold miners say output has peaked as losses reshape the industry – by James Wilson (Financial Times – January 17, 2016)

January 18, 2016

http://www.ft.com/

Gold output has peaked in this commodities cycle, according to mining industry leaders and analysts who say few big projects will reach the point of production amid falling prices.

The lack of new assets and declining output at existing mines is expected to curb gold supply, a glimmer of hope for surviving producers of the precious metal in an industry coming to terms with a rush of investment when prices were far higher.

Kelvin Dushnisky, president of Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold miner by annual output, said: “Falling grades and production levels, a lack of new discoveries, and extended project development timelines are bullish for the medium and long-term gold price outlook.”

Anatomy of a corporate makeover – by Kelvin Dushnisky (Barrick: Beyond Borders – January 03, 2016)

January 4, 2016

http://barrickbeyondborders.com/

This article first appeared in the January/February 2016 issue of Policy Magazine.

As the gold mining industry grapples with one of the most challenging metal price environments in recent memory, Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky tells how his company is responding by fundamentally changing the way it operates, transitioning to a decentralized business model and reclaiming the qualities that made it the world’s leading gold producer.

Known historically for being a lean, nimble company that thinks outside the box while consistently generating wealth for its shareholders, Dushnisky writes that Barrick is on its way to becoming that company again.

More than 30 years ago, when gold was out of favor and its prospects dim, Peter Munk saw an opportunity and started a gold company. Barrick Gold Corporation went public in May 1983, and quickly took on many of the characteristics that made Peter a Canadian business icon.

20 years and counting: Donlin Gold reaches major milestone; long path to production remains – by Shane Lasley (Mining News – December 13, 2015)

December 11, 2015

http://www.petroleumnews.com/miningnewsnorth/index.shtml

After 20 years of exploration and permitting, the Donlin Gold project is on the downhill side of gaining the permits needed to develop a mine at the 39-million-ounce gold deposit in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Southwest Alaska.

On Nov. 25, the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers released a draft Environmental Impact Statement for what will likely be among the largest gold-producing mines on the planet.

The Donlin Gold Mine being considered in the draft EIS includes a 53,500-metric-ton-per-day mill that is expected to produce an average of 1.1 million ounces of gold annually at a cash-cost of US$585 per ounce for 27 years. During its first five years of operation, the mine is designed to extract 1.5 million oz. of gold annually at a cash-cost of US$409 per ounce.

Barrick sells $720-million of Nevada assets as it copes with low gold prices – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Barrick Gold Corp. has sold several Nevada properties for $720-million (U.S.) in a flurry of transactions that underline how the gold industry is reshaping itself to deal with falling prices for the precious metal.

Kinross Gold Corp. of Toronto is the major purchaser of the assets. It will pay Barrick $610-million for its Bald Mountain mine and for its half interest in the Round Mountain mine. Kinross already owns the other half of the Round Mountain property.

In addition, Waterton Precious Metals Fund II of Toronto will pay $110-million to Barrick for its Ruby Hill mine and for a 70-per-cent interest in the Spring Valley project.

The deals demonstrate the impact of falling gold prices. Over the past four years, the metal has tumbled from $1,900 an ounce to below $1,100 an ounce.

NEWS RELEASE: Barrick Announces Sale of Non-Core Assets for $720 Million (November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.barrick.com/

TORONTO, November 12, 2015 — Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) (“Barrick” or the “company”) today announced that it has entered into agreements to sell a number of non-core assets in Nevada for $720 million in cash, including 100 percent of the Bald Mountain mine, 100 percent of the Ruby Hill mine, Barrick’s 50 percent interest in the Round Mountain mine and the company’s 70 percent interest in the Spring Valley project.

Including these transactions, Barrick has announced asset sales, joint ventures and partnerships worth $3.2 billion since the start of 2015. The company is on track to meet its stated debt reduction target of $3 billion for 2015, which, when completed, will represent a 23 percent reduction in total debt since the start of the year.

“The sale of these assets is consistent with our strategy to create long-term value for our shareholders by strengthening the balance sheet and further focusing our portfolio on core mines that will drive free cash flow growth,” said Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky.

Upbeat gold miners report stronger results – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – October 30, 2015)

October 30, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Barrick, Goldcorp increase production, cut costs in third-quarter

There was a funny sound that hasn’t been heard in several years on Barrick Gold Corp.’s latest earnings conference call: optimism.

Battered by one of the worst bear markets ever for metals, the Toronto-based gold giant reported a second straight quarter of positive cash flow and that it’s well on the way to meeting its massive debt reduction target of $3 billion (U.S.) this year.

“We’re getting Barrick back into a position of financial strength,” said company president Kelvin Dushnisky, who was audibly more upbeat on a call with analysts Thursday. “We’ve really started to deliver,” he said.