The CEO of Barrick Gold Corp. says the mining giant faced a number of challenges at the beginning of 2023 that led to it falling short of production expectations, but says the company is set up for success this year.

“Last year, we started off slowly in quarter one, but I think the positive thing is that we showed an improvement quarter-to-quarter right the way through,” Mark Bristow told BNN Bloomberg in a Wednesday interview.

“And we finished the year – helped by the gold price, of course – with some solid financials, so all in all, it was a good finish.”

The Toronto-based miner reported on Wednesday a profit attributable to equity holders of US$1.27 billion for 2023, up from $432 million in 2022, while revenue totalled $11.40 billion, up from $11.01 billion the previous year.

Despite missing on overall gold production guidance for 2023, Bristow said that most importantly, Barrick replaced more than 100 per cent of its gold and copper reserve depletion last year.

“We have a much better foundation on which to deliver this year,” he said, “and that's the focus: to get back to being able to deliver on our plans every year.”

Global mining operations

Bristow said that Barrick has addressed many of the issues that hampered production throughout its global network of mines last year, including at its Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea, which hasn’t produced gold since 2020.

“We are busy restarting the mine now, we've settled all the issues, and we expect to pour our first gold of this restart this quarter,” he said.

Bristow said the company’s operations in Nevada are also poised to ramp up production, after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved Barrick’s plan of operations for its underground “Gold Rush” mine in the state.

“Nevada will start delivering now into the next five years,” he said, “so all in all, we see production going up, which drives costs down on a unit basis.” 

First Quantum takeover speculation

Barrick has been seeking to expand its copper-producing assets, as the metal becomes more valuable amid the global shift towards renewable energy. The company is currently building a US$7 billion copper mine in Pakistan.

Some of the major shareholders of Canada-based copper miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. were reportedly approached by Bristow late last year to gauge support for a potential takeover after the forced closure of First Quantum’s flagship mine in Panama.

The talks, first reported by Bloomberg News last month, were not confirmed by either company, and no formal offer was made. When asked about the report’s validity on Wednesday, Bristow said it was “false.”

Panama’s government ordered First Quantum to close its Cobre Panama mine late last year. The mine is the Vancouver-based company’s biggest asset, which accounted for almost 80 per cent of its operating profit in the first nine months of 2023. 

With files from The Canadian Press and Bloomberg News