Barrick Gold Sees Continued Growth in Gold Reserves
Barrick Gold, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, has announced its third consecutive year of organic growth in gold reserves, predominantly driven by operations in the Africa & Middle East region. The mining giant revealed that its attributable proven and probable gold mineral reserves have seen an increase of 5.0 million ounces, even after accounting for the depletion in 2023.
The company's current proven and probable mineral reserves are now estimated at 77 million ounces, with a concentration of 1.65 grams per ton. This marks a slight increase from the 76 million ounces at 1.67g/t reported in 2022. Over the period since the end of 2019, Barrick Gold has managed to replace over 140% of its gold reserve depletion, contributing almost 29 million ounces to its attributable proven and probable reserves, or a total of 44 million ounces when considering proven and probable reserves.
The growth in reserves can be attributed to successful drilling initiatives, particularly at Lumwana, which also led to an increase in proven and probable copper reserves by 330 thousand tonnes in 2023. As a result, the company has effectively replaced 124% of its annual global copper depletion, maintaining its attributable proven and probable copper mineral reserves at 5.6 million tonnes with a grade of 0.39% in 2023.
Mark Bristow, President and CEO of Barrick Gold, highlighted the significance of the company's focus on organic growth through exploration and mineral resource management. He stated that this strategy distinguishes Barrick within the industry by generating tangible value through discovery and development efforts.
Despite the positive reserve growth, shares of Barrick Gold experienced a slight decrease, closing down 0.7% at USD 14.82 per share in New York on Thursday.
