Barrick reports lower-than-expected preliminary gold output in third quarter

Barrick Gold produced lower-than-expected gold in the third quarter because of a fall in output at its Carlin and Cortez mines in Nevada, the Canadian miner said on Wednesday.

Carlin and Cortez mines are a part of Nevada Gold Mines, which is Barrick’s joint venture with US-based rival Newmont.

Total gold output at Nevada Gold Mines fell to 385,000 ounces in the July-September quarter, compared with 401,000 ounces in the preceding three months.

But Barrick, the world’s second-largest gold producer, expects a “materially stronger fourth quarter”. An operational expansion at Carlin mine, completed during a shutdown in the third quarter, would support higher throughput and recoveries in the last quarter of the year, the company said.

Its total preliminary gold output was 943,000 ounces in the third quarter, compared with analysts’ estimate of 975,000 ounces, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Barrick expects all-in sustaining costs, an industry metric used to express total expenses, for gold to be at least 2% higher than the previous quarter.

Its preliminary copper production was at 48,000 tonnes, an 11.6% jump over the second quarter, driven by higher output at the Lumwana mine in Zambia.

Barrick’s gold and copper production would need to increase by nearly 30% quarter-over-quarter for it to achieve the midpoint of its outlook range, Scotiabank analyst Tanya Jakusconek said. “We view these results as slightly negative for the shares.”

Barrick’s shares were down nearly 1% at C$27.63. It expects to produce 3.9 million to 4.3 million ounces of gold and 180,000-210,000 tonnes of copper in 2024.

The miner is scheduled to release third-quarter results on Nov. 7.

Analysts expect Barrick to post an adjusted profit of 35 cents per share versus 24 cents it earned a year earlier, boosted by a surge in gold prices due to interest rate cuts and safe-haven demand.

(By Vallari Srivastava; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)