Barrick starts review to boost predictability, safety

Barrick Mining (TSX: ABX; NYSE: B) says it’s reviewing operations to curtail unplanned downtime and improve worker safety as the Canadian miner shifts its focus to North America.Toronto-based Barrick is about halfway through the review, additional details of which will be released in February, interim CEO Mark Hill said Monday after the company reported third-quarter results. Barrick wants to better plan maintenance and eliminate “unexpected surprises” such as a recent roaster failure at the Carlin complex in Nevada, which caused the company to lose seven days of production at the end of the third quarter, he said.“We can’t keep having things go wrong unexpectedly like we had at Carlin. It’s about getting plans in place and making sure they are solid and we can rely on them,” Hill said Monday on a conference call with financial analysts. “The review is so that we can be more confident and get to more predictable outcomes from quarter to quarter.”Hill, who replaced Mark Bristow in late September following the longtime CEO’s surprise departure, gave no update on a permanent replacement, deflected a question on the fate of the de facto nationalized Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali and said new investment would target the Fourmile project in Nevada. He also said he’s visited most of the company’s key sites in recent weeks to review performance and “assess what we can do differently.”Worker deathsBarrick’s adjusted third-quarter income of 58¢ a share fell short of the 60¢ average forecast in a survey of analysts. While quarterly production of 829,000 oz. gold was also weaker than expected, the company’s board approved a 25% increase in the quarterly base dividend to 12.5¢ per share plus a third-quarter performance dividend of 5¢ per share.Shares of Barrick gained 5.3% to C$48.89 apiece Monday in Toronto, valuing the company at about C$82 billion ($59 billion).The review comes after Barrick disclosed that two workers died at its underground operations in the most recent quarter – one at the Goldrush mine in Nevada, and another one at Bulyanhulu in Tanzania. Investigations into both incidents are under way.An earlier incident at the Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo has also been reclassified as a fatality due to the miner’s death after nearly two months in hospital.“Three fatalities is a lot,” Scotia Capital mining analyst Tanya Jakusconec told Hill during the conference call.The deaths have prompted Barrick to “put some changes in place” to address safety, Hill acknowledged. No executives were replaced, he added.“I don’t think there’s a gap in our processes and procedures and standards,” the CEO said. “It’s about culture, it’s about leadership. Most of these systems are in place and I think they’re solid. We’re just going to have to reset and get everyone on the same page that safety is the No. 1 priority of this company. The minute we get safety in line, normally what you see is an uptick in production and more efficient operations.”Nevada focusBarrick offered no update Monday on its efforts to find a permanent successor to Bristow. It repeated earlier language that a board committee has “embarked on a process” to appoint a permanent CEO with the support of an unidentified executive search firm.U.S. assets, which contributed more than half of Barrick’s attributable gold production in the third quarter, will remain firmly at the heart of the company’s strategy, Hill said. They include Nevada Gold Mines, Barrick’s joint venture with Newmont (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT), and the nearby Fourmile project, which Hill calls “one of the most significant gold discoveries this century.”“We are definitely shifting the focus to America, and have already started with that,” Hill said. “We’re going to spend a bigger proportion of our exploration in Nevada, in North America.  I do see a big opportunity there. I do see that as the next big project and the next big growth area for Barrick.”Nevada Gold Mines, which Barrick operates by virtue of owning a 61.5% stake, “is our most important asset,” Hill insisted.The complex contains nine underground mines, 12 open pit operations, two roaster facilities, two autoclave facilities, one flotation mill, two oxide mills, eight heap leach facilities, 14 ranches, two power plants and one warehouse.Fourmile hopes“Nevada is the core of our company,” Hill said. “We will be unwavering in focus to drive value creation in Nevada.”Having recently boosted Fourmile’s exploration budget by $10 million for the rest of 2025, Barrick is on track to double the existing resource, the CEO said. “Advancing exploration at Fourmile represents a significant value driver for the company,” National Bank Financial mining analyst Shane Nagle said Monday in a note to clients.Barrick expects to have 20 drill rigs turning at Fourmile next year, up from 16 now, Hill said. Work on the development of a decline will start near the end of 2026, allowing the company to proceed with a feasibility study, he added.“Advancing this project is obviously a key priority for the North America region and team, but also for Barrick as a whole,” Hill said.Standoff in MaliOutside of the Americas, Barrick is continuing to push for the safe release of four jailed employees in Mali amid a bitter dispute with the country’s military government, Hill said.Barrick suspended operations at Loulo-Gounkoto, its largest African asset, in January after officials seized about three tonnes of gold over alleged unpaid taxes and then appointed a government administrator.“In Mali my focus is on getting these four people out of jail. They’ve been incarcerated now for 11 months. My focus is on that rather than anything else in Mali at the minute,” Hill said. “If we get that achieved, then obviously we will look at restarting that operation. We still have people onsite doing the care and maintenance so we could restart that operation.”Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com