By Robb M. Stewart


Barrick Gold said it remains on track to hit its production targets for the year, with output rising steadily following a recovery in the second quarter.


On guidance:

The mining company said Tuesday it continues to expect gold and copper production in will progressively increase each quarter through the year, with a higher weighting in the second half of 2024. That leaves it tracking to full-year gold and copper guidance, it said.

Barrick previously forecast attributable production of 3.9 million to 4.3 million ounces of gold this year and copper output of 180,000 to 210,000 metric tons.


On production:

The Canadian company produced 948,000 ounces of the precious metal in the second quarter and sold 956,000 ounces, after production in the first three months of 2024 fell quarter-over-quarter and on-year to 940,000 ounces.

The increase was thanks to increased output at Turquoise Ridge mine in Nevada, the continued ramp up at Porgera in Papua New Guinea and significant increases at Tongon in Ivory Coast, North Mara in Tanzania and Kibali in Congo, Barrick said. Slightly offsetting that was planned lower production at Nevada Gold Mines' Cortez and Phoenix mines, while output was flat sequentially at Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican, it said.

Barrick's copper output in the second quarter rose to 43,000 tons from 40,000 reported for the prior quarter, which the company said was driven primarily by higher grades and recoveries at Lumwana in Zambia following the ramp up in stripping activities in the first quarter as well as the planned shutdown in that period.


Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-16-24 1203ET