Barrick reports rise in gold, copper output
Barrick Gold reported preliminary results for the September quarter with production of 1.04Moz of gold and 112Mlb of copper, up from the previous quarter but lower than planned.
Higher gold production than the previous quarter was driven by higher oxide production from the Crossroads open pit and Cortez Hills underground in Nevada, US. Additionally, output was up in the September quarter at the Turquoise Ridge mine in Nevada due to maintenance in the previous quarter and higher grades at the Kibali gold mine in Congo. The Lumwana open pit mine in Zambia mainly drove the increase in copper production.
The lower-than-planned production was mainly due to equipment design deficiencies at the Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic, which contributed to the delayed ramp-up of the expansion. The Canada-based miner also performed slightly below expectations in the previous quarter. However, Barrick said it expects a significant increase in the December quarter production volume and is "set for a strong finish to the year".
Barrick sold 1.03Moz of gold and 101Mlb of copper in the September quarter, with an average market price of $1,928/oz for gold and $3.79/lb for copper.
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