Canada’s Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX)(NYSE:GOLD), the world’s second largest producer of the yellow metal, saw its profit for the three months to September almost tripled as a result of higher output and prices.
The Toronto-based miner also bumped its payout to investors for the period by 25% to $0.05 per share, as adjusted profit rose to $264 million, or 15 cents per share. That compares to $89 million, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier.
In terms of output, Barrick churned out 1.31 million ounces in the third quarter from 1.15 million ounces in the three months to June 30.
The gold giant, however, expects production numbers to stay put through 2024, reaching between 5.15 and 5.6 million ounces of gold a year — in line with what it expects to produce this year.
The company also predicted all-in sustaining costs (AISC) to be between $850 and $950 an ounce over the next five years, an improvement from the $984-million per ounce reported in the previous quarter.
Barrick has been looking to boost its reserves to address falling production. In July, the miner took a step in that direction by agreeing to combine its assets in the US state of Nevada with those of Newmont Goldcorp, the world’s No. 1 gold producer.
It has also taken over its subsidiary in Tanzania, Acacia Mining, which had spun off from the gold giant in 2010, paving the way for an end to long-dragged out tax dispute between the unit and the government of the African country.
A final settlement, which meant the creation of a new company — Twiga Minerals — was reached in October. Barrick has said it plans to sell about $1.5 billion in assets by the end of 2020. At the same time, it’s looking to buy more top-tier gold projects, in Canada and elsewhere, and invest in copper assets.
By Mining.com
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