Barrick Mines Set to Deliver Strong Finish to the Year

Third Quarter 2024 Results

All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars

TORONTO, Nov. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD)(TSX:ABX) dealt with ongoing challenges and made significant progress on many fronts in the third quarter of the year to keep its annual production and cost guidance within reach on the back of the strong performance anticipated in Q4.

Gold production was in line with that of the previous quarter while copper production was up 12% quarter on quarter. The Company said it was on track for a materially improved Q4, driven by the continuing ramp-up of the Pueblo Viejo plant expansion, increased throughput at Nevada Gold Mines and higher grades at Kibali.

Improved margins across the gold operations reflected the higher gold price and cost discipline. Net earnings per share rose by 33% year on year, operating cash flow totaled $1.18 billion and free cash flow¹ of $444 million was up 31% quarter on quarter. Debt net of cash was reduced by 27% quarter on quarter. An unchanged quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share was declared and shareholder returns were enhanced by a further share buyback of $95 million in Q3.

President and chief executive Mark Bristow said the Company was again planning to replace mineral reserves net of depletion in 2024 by a significant margin, driven by the contributions from the Reko Diq copper-gold project and the Lumwana Super Pit expansion project. The feasibility studies for both projects are on track for completion by the year-end. Long lead items are being ordered and key project team members are being recruited.

"The Fourmile project in Nevada continues to show exciting value potential, and significant new satellite orebody opportunities have been highlighted at Loulo and Kibali. In addition, our exploration teams are working on very promising new prospects across our portfolio,” he said.

Barrick is continuing to invest in its leadership and employee skills development, expanding its bench strength across all three regions.

Bristow noted that over the last five years the Company had reduced its closure liabilities by more than $1 billion through the continuous review and optimization of closure projects. In addition, in 2023 two Tailings Storage Facilities ("TSF”) conformed to the Safe Closure requirements as per the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management ("GISTM”) with a further five expected to conform by the end of this year.

Q3 2024 Results Presentation

Mark Bristow will host a live presentation of the results today at 11:00 AM ET, with an interactive webinar linked to a conference call. Participants will be able to ask questions.

Go to the webinar

US/Canada (toll-free), 1 844 763 8274

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The Q3 presentation materials will be available on Barrick's website at www.barrick.com and the webinar will remain on the website for later viewing.

Investor Day 2024

Please join us for Barrick's Investor Day on Friday, November 22, 2024. The event begins at 9:00 AM ET and will include presentations by members of the Barrick Executive Team covering Exploration, Mineral Resource Management, Operations, Growth Projects, Finance & Supply Chain and Sustainability. Register now for the webinar.

Financial and Operating Highlights

Key Performance Indicators

Best Assets

• Higher margins¹⁴ across gold operations on back of higher gold price and stable unit costs
• Pueblo Viejo increases quarterly production and lowers unit costs as part of ongoing plant ramp-up and stabilization
• Another strong quarter from Loulo-Gounkoto with full-year production expected to be at the top end of guidance
• Successful completion and commissioning of Phase 2 of Gold Quarry roaster expansion sets Carlin and Cortez up for strong delivery in Q4
• Turquoise Ridge continues to progress underground mining ramp-up
• 2024 copper production on track for midpoint of guidance range
• Reko Diq and Lumwana feasibility studies on track for year end completion; ordering of long-lead items commenced
• Drilling at Fourmile completes 24 holes with additional 11 underway, continuing to support substantial growth in Fourmile orebody
• Renewed discipline and focus on quality confirms exciting exploration targets with Tier One¹⁵ potential around existing operations and on early-stage projects

• Year-on-year improvement in the TRIFR¹⁶ and LTIFR¹⁶, regrettably marred by a fatality at Kibali
• Concurrent rehabilitation ahead of plan across the group, with five TSFs to be recommended for Safe Closure by year-end
• Reko Diq and Lumwana ESIAs completed and submitted to relevant authorities
• Barrick Academy on track to have trained over 2,700 managers in Africa & Middle East region by 2025
• In Balochistan, new vocational programs launched to support the development of local employees

• Q3 operating cash flow of $1.18 billion and free cash flow¹ up 31% quarter-on-quarter to $444 million
• Net earnings per share of $0.28 and adjusted net earnings per share⁵ of $0.30 for the quarter
• Debt, net of cash reduced by 27% quarter-on-quarter
• Continuation of share buybacks deliver enhanced returns to shareholders
• $0.10 per share dividend declared

Barrick today announced the declaration of a dividend of $0.10 per share for the third quarter of 2024. The dividend is consistent with the Company's Performance Dividend Policy announced at the start of 2022.

The Q3 2024 dividend will be paid on December 16, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 29, 2024.

Barrick also repurchased an additional 4.725 million shares during the third quarter under the $1 billion share buyback program that was announced in February 2024, bringing the total repurchases during the year to 7.675 million shares.

"The continued strength of our balance sheet, bolstered by record high gold prices and our world class gold and copper asset base, allows us to distribute a robust quarterly dividend whilst maintaining ample liquidity to invest in the growth of our business and to repurchase additional stock at a compelling valuation,” said senior executive vice-president and chief financial officer Graham Shuttleworth.

After Challenging Start, Pueblo Viejo Expansion Starts Delivering the Goods

Pueblo Viejo's ambitious expansion and upgrade project - designed to extend the Barrick-operated Tier One mine's life to beyond 2040 with an average annual gold production of 800,000 ounces¹⁷ (100% basis) - is getting up to speed with a 23% quarter-on-quarter increase in production in Q3. It also improved its throughput for the fourth consecutive quarter.

This performance is a tribute to the management team who, with executive support, had to overcome a series of major equipment failures during the commissioning and ramp-up phases. These included the collapse of the new stockpile feed conveyor structure, which necessitated its re-engineering and re-establishment in a complex operating environment, as well as the redesign and replacement of the flotation circuit gearboxes.

The mine expects to achieve an 80% recovery rate by year-end, rising to 85% in 2025, and is targeting a 90% recovery rate by 2027. This will be supported by installation and commissioning of a new closed circuit classification step and grinding thickener-capacity increase. Also on the short-term to-do list are bringing the deslime cyclones and staged reagent dosing to full operation which will increase the efficiency of the flotation operations by reducing the fines and increasing capacity of the carbon in leach launders to improve carbon containment at higher throughput.

In the meantime, work on the new tailings facility is progressing with the completion of the environmental study. Resettlement work is also advancing with several hundred of the 700 all-amenity new homes required already built or under construction. The full relocation is expected to be completed by 2025.

Exploration Set to Deliver Another Year of Reserve Replacement as Well as New High-Potential Targets

Barrick's brownfields and greenfields exploration teams are having a good year with exciting drilling results from around its orebodies pointing to the company retaining its record of reserve replacement and new targets, with Tier One potential, emerging elsewhere within its global portfolio.

Nevada continues to develop orebody and greenfields opportunities, with a strong focus on the Cortez complex, with drilling at the Swift target, and at the Fourmile project, where an exciting hole two kilometers north of Dorothy has intersected a broad zone of Carlin-style alteration. Framework drilling of a large anomalous altered target along strike from the Gold Quarry mine in the Carlin Trend will be completed this year. Elsewhere in the western USA, targets are being developed throughout consolidated positions in multiple prospective terrains, while in Canada, fieldwork on three separate projects has identified multiple targets with anomalous alteration and geochemistry for follow-up work.

The Latin America & Asia Pacific region has made enormous progress in rationalizing its legacy portfolio and the focus is now on target delineation, moving prospects up the resource triangle. Several drill-ready targets have been identified in the Pueblo Viejo and Veladero districts as well as in Barrick's portfolio in Peru. In Pakistan, the exploration team on-site at Reko Diq is raking in opportunities for an updated resource triangle by the end of this year. Early indications are that the mining lease area holds a resource potential far beyond what is currently envisaged.

In the Africa & Middle East region, the Baboto complex system within the Loulo Lease is showing the potential for a major discovery with the mineralization expanding in multiple directions and exhibiting similarities in style and control to Yalea. A detailed model update will drive an aggressive assessment of the potential in Q1 next year. A full Loulo district geological model - including Bambadji/Dalema across the river in Senegal - will also be updated by the end of the year to produce a new resource triangle for the next generation of major discoveries. At Kibali, the ARK corridor is showing the potential to deliver a high-grade, multi-million-ounce satellite complex less than four kilometres from the processing plant. At the same time, new large-scale grassroots targets are emerging within the Kibali basin, complementing early-stage potential along the KZ trend.

In Tanzania, the update of the Gokona-Gena model is being applied across the entire 20-kilometer corridor to generate and prioritize high-impact targets, while geochemical drilling on the Bulyanhulu Inlier has intersected multiple gold and copper anomalies. Follow-up drilling to rank these for aggressive testing is underway.

Nevada Gold Mines Focused on Flexibility, Reliability and Efficiency

New rolling plans and investment in contractors to enhance underground development inventory at Nevada Gold Mines ("NGM”) are keeping development faces ahead of operational stopes, increasing the flexibility the mines need to increase the overall processed grade and subsequently ounce production.

Over the past 12 months, this new approach, known as Stope Line Ready - Developed Reserves, has increased the amount of accessible ore developed and ready for production by 19% for longhole stopes and 33% for drift and fill areas. This is equivalent to raising developed capacity from three to four months at current mining volumes. It has the added benefit of maximizing consistency of plan execution, reducing the need to replan the mine to cover shortfalls.

NGM is also making substantial investments in replacing and upgrading equipment and infrastructure which, while in the short term will be reflected in its costs, will effectively recapitalize the complex for the next 10 to 15 years. This follows years of underinvestment prior to the formation of the joint venture. Since its formation, the joint venture has extended the life of mine for the complex by more than ten years and this reinvestment period will ensure the equipment and infrastructure deliver world-class performance for this extended life.

Investments in the open pits include 63 new Komatsu trucks, of which 47 have been purchased and delivered to increase the average payload per truck by approximately 15% and availability by 7%-25%, while significantly lowering maintenance spend. During the quarter at Carlin, open pit optimization work was also conducted, and several pieces of equipment are being parked with the impacted workforce being offered new assignments throughout NGM where the need exists and to reduce higher-cost contractors supplementing our workforce.

Investment continued in our process facilities with the completion of the Gold Quarry roaster expansion project to increase throughput by 20% combined with process improvements at the Goldstrike roaster. These facilities are now back to industry-leading reliability and operational performance. At the Turquoise Ridge Sage autoclave, significant process equipment upgrades were completed during the quarter, increasing its reliability and performance. We expect to continue these investments over the next couple of years with planned investments in underground equipment and infrastructure, process infrastructure, and notably, automation technology. As these investments pay dividends and we return to our natural sustaining capital run rate, unit costs are projected to taper off and margins will significantly improve.

The Barrick Academy Rolls Out to Nevada

Based on the success of the Barrick Academy at the now closed and repurposed Buzwagi mine in Tanzania, the Academy concept will be rolled out to NGM and incorporated into its existing training mine, which was established in 2022 to equip new hires to work safely and efficiently.

Based on the success of the Barrick Academy at the now closed and repurposed Buzwagi mine in Tanzania, the Academy concept will be rolled out to NGM and incorporated into its existing training mine, which was established in 2022 to equip new hires to work safely and efficiently. The launch date is set for 2025 and more than 700 frontline supervisors, general supervisors and superintendents are expected to complete the training that year.

Opened in March, the Buzwagi Barrick Academy offers a program called the Foundations for Leadership and Management. Aimed at frontline staff, this four-day, 40-hour program features 16 interactive modules and is designed to enhance leadership skills, team collaboration and productivity improvement. So far 1,137 participants have completed the course with more than double that number expected to be trained over the next 24 months.

Courses at the enlarged Academy will be extended to include Barrick's contractors and the curriculum expanded to cover more disciplines, such as financial leadership, advanced computer literacy and safety. This is being done to ensure a uniform standard of training quality across the group.

"Barrick has the industry's best assets and the best people that we need to fully develop to maximize their value. The expansion of the Barrick Academy underlines our dedication to investing in the professional growth of our workplace,” says Mark Bristow.

Realizing Long-Term Value Through Sustainable Mine Closure

As reclamation costs and liabilities are projected to grow significantly across the mining industry, Barrick's efforts to proactively understand and mitigate closure risk are helping to keep its closure costs and liabilities low.

Group sustainability executive Grant Beringer says the sustainable closure of Barrick's mines plays a key part in its endeavors to create long-lasting value. "We believe that how we close our mines is as important as how we build and operate them, and that is why we plan their closure before we even start designing them,” he says.

Beringer says sustainable mine closure creates value for Barrick through the realization of cost efficiencies by executing concurrent rehabilitation while mines are still operating; the repurposing of mining infrastructure to create new economic opportunities for communities; and the creation of post-closure conditions to facilitate divestiture. "Responsible mine closure also maintains stakeholder trust and improves our license to operate,” Beringer says.

Relative to 2018 and inclusive of the acquired properties, Barrick has reduced its closure liabilities across the group by more than $1 billion (36%) through the continuous review, optimization and completion of closure projects. This year alone more than $20 million of closure project savings were identified and realized.

According to Beringer, substantial opportunities for value creation lie in Barrick's North American legacy portfolio. Over the past five years Barrick has optimized the portfolio, making adjustments to post-closure management plans as well as working with local communities and other stakeholders to identify alternative development opportunities.

"Since 2019, we have invested $280 million in our North American legacy portfolio with the ambitious goal of reducing liabilities by approximately 80% over the next 10 years. In 2024, we will spend approximately $65 million on risk mitigation and eliminating active water treatment as a long-term closure strategy at our legacy sites in New Mexico, California, Colorado, South Dakota and British Columbia,” he says.

"This quarter we also successfully completed the Buzwagi TSF closure project in Tanzania which began in 2022 and, at Pierina in Peru, good progress was made on the closure of the heap leach and waste rock facilities, with the remaining rehabilitation on track for completion in 2025,” says Beringer. "Owning, understanding and actively working to address long-term risks create resilient post-closure conditions that will allow value to be realized long after a mine stops operating.”

NGM Completes Construction of 200MW Solar Power Plant

The Barrick-operated Nevada Gold Mines has completed the construction of the second and final phase of a 200-megawatt solar power plant, which will have the capability of producing 17% of NGM's annual power demand while realizing a reduction of 234kt of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year.

Mark Bristow says the solar facility would reduce NGM's total annual greenhouse gas emissions by 8% against a 2018 baseline.

"The solar facility is one of many initiatives to reduce our reliance on carbon-based electricity sources. We are also taking steps to modify the TS Power Plant to use cleaner-burning natural gas as a future fuel source. Additionally, in 2023, we began introducing electric vehicles to our light vehicle fleet which included the required charging infrastructure in Elko and at the main mines Carlin, Cortez, Turquoise Ridge and Phoenix, as well as the TS Power Plant,” Bristow said.

With the second 100-megawatt phase of the TS Solar Power plant now online and performance testing fully completed, NGM is shifting its focus to installation of solar and battery energy storage ("BESS”) at the operations. NGM was recently awarded $95 million in funding from the US Department of Energy to develop additional solar facilities with BESS at the Turquoise Ridge and Cortez mine sites. These will serve as a secondary power source, mitigating the impacts of power grid disruption and enhancing renewable energy consumption during off-peak hours.

In addition to the TS Power Plant conversion to co-fire capability, we are furthering studies into geothermal energy sources.

Lumwana's Super Pit Expansion Officially Launched; Feasibility Study Expected by Year-End

The development of a Super Pit at Barrick's Lumwana copper mine has been officially launched by the Zambian President, His Excellency Hakainde Hichilema, accompanied by members of his cabinet.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony also attended by the Barrick board of directors, Mark Bristow said a critical element of the Super Pit Expansion was its focus on creating a sustainable legacy through the development of local capacity within the region, which would benefit both local communities and businesses throughout the construction and operational phases. The expansion will need around 550 additional workers over the next five years to support the ramp up and an additional 2,500 construction workers for a three-year period to 2028.

"We are also planning to build critical infrastructure, including an airstrip and an industrial supplier park. This will enable key suppliers to establish themselves in the area, creating an economic hub that will further fuel growth and development in the wider region,” Bristow said.

"Mining plays a key role in Zambia's economic structure and our partnership with Barrick is creating one team with a shared vision to develop a new economic frontier in the North-Western Province of the country and beyond,” said President Hakainde Hichilema.

The feasibility study for the Super Pit Expansion is expected by the end of the year, paving the way for construction to start in 2025. Once completed, the $2 billion project^18,19 unlocks the potential to transform Lumwana into a long-life, high-yielding, top 25 copper producer¹⁸ and a Tier One¹⁵ copper mine, capable of contending with the volatility of the copper demand cycles.

The expansion involves first doubling throughput of the existing process circuit and then significantly increasing mining volumes. Plant throughput will grow from the current 27Mt to 52Mt, doubling the mine's annual copper production from 120kt to a life-of-mine average of 240kt a year.^19,20 The process plant expansion is supported by a ramp-up of total mining volumes, which are planned to increase incrementally year-on-year, from 150Mt in 2025 to approximately 240Mt in 2028 and then to an average rate of 290Mt per annum from 2030 onwards.^19,20

Chief operating officer for Africa and Middle East Sebastiaan Bock said, "The phased ramp-up will enable a competitive cost profile over the life of the mine and annual operating cash flow and free cash flow¹ are projected to improve by as much as 85% and 60%, respectively, based on the long-term copper price consensus. These production and cost improvements will contribute to an estimated incremental net present value (NPV8) of $1.7 billion¹⁸.”

At a flat long-term average copper price consensus of $4.13/lb, Barrick estimates that the project will deliver an incremental internal rate of return ("IRR”) of approximately 20%²¹ and a total mine IRR of more than 50%²¹, paying back the initial expansion capital in approximately two years after completion of the expansion. Post-expansion, cost of sales and C1 cash costs¹² are estimated at approximately $2.36/lb and $1.85/lb, respectively, placing Lumwana in the first quartile of the industry, excluding the benefit of any byproducts.

According to mineral resource management and evaluation executive Simon Bottoms, the process plant engineering has matured to a point that has allowed Barrick to select major equipment vendors and place orders for long lead equipment, including both mills and crushers. "We are starting detailed engineering works this quarter and expanding our onsite accommodation while building partnerships with key suppliers and contractors ahead of the pre-construction ground preparation works, which are scheduled to start next year,” said Bottoms.

Commissioning of the new process plant is planned to start in the second half of 2027. Once the new process circuit is commissioned, the existing circuit will undergo a series of planned shutdowns, allowing Barrick to install upgrades, while ensuring uninterrupted copper delivery throughout the expansion.

The permitting process for the expansion is well underway. An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA”) has already been submitted to the Zambian authorities and approval is expected by the end of this year.

Barrick Continues to Unlock Value Embedded in Its Asset Base

Barrick is projecting a 30% growth in the production of gold-equivalent ounces from its existing assets by the end of this decade²² while it continues to unlock the value embedded in its portfolio.

Mark Bristow says while Barrick was alert to potentially value-accretive opportunities generated by the consolidation of the industry, it had the rare luxury of doing so from an asset base that would support organic growth well into the future.

"Five years ago, we set out to build a sustainably profitable gold and copper business focused on world-class assets. We did not have to buy them at a premium: they were embedded in the merged portfolio of Barrick and Randgold and we just had to unlock their value,” he said.

"We have six Tier One¹⁵ gold mines with more in the making and our long-term plans are based on quality orebodies with industry-leading grades that drive improving cost profiles. Alongside our peerless gold portfolio, we are also building a substantial copper business, both to feed the rising demand for this strategic metal and because it enhances our growth optionality to include copper-gold porphyries.”

Bristow listed three world-class gold opportunities, all in Nevada, which he described as the world's premier mining jurisdiction. The recently commissioned Goldrush is ramping up to a targeted 400,000 ounces per annum (100% basis) by 2028.²³ Bordering on Goldrush is the 100% Barrick-owned Fourmile, which is returning grades double those of Goldrush and is another Tier One mine in the making.²⁴ Still in Nevada, the 14-million-ounce Leeville project is developing into a major growth driver that could double Carlin's reserves, extending its life beyond 2045.²⁵

On the copper side of the business, two transformative projects are on track for first production in 2028. The Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan is designed to produce 400,000 tonnes of copper and 500,000 ounces of gold per year in the second phase of its development.²⁴ The Lumwana Super Pit project in Zambia will double the mine's production over a +30-year life.²⁴

"Mining is a consumptive industry which requires constant replacement of the ounces it depletes. Barrick leads the industry in orebody expansion and has more than replaced the gold reserves it has mined over the past five years.²⁶ Even more significantly, the ounces that have been added are at the same or better grade than the reserves that were mined,” Bristow said.

He noted that since 2019, Barrick had also built an industry-leading balance sheet, reducing net debt by $3.5 billion, investing $11.2 billion in +10 year life-of-mine plans for its key mines and returning more than $5 billion to shareholders. Its strong operating cash flows would provide the financial flexibility to fund its growth projects.

2024 Operating and Capital Expenditure Guidance

2024 OUTLOOK ASSUMPTIONS AND ECONOMIC SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

Production and Cost Summary - Gold