Name: Zaldívar mine.

Location: Zaldívar is located in the Andean Precordillera, in Region II of northern Chile.

Controlling Company: The Zaldívar mining operation is managed and operated by Compañía Minera Zaldívar (CMZ), which is 100% owned by Barrick Gold.

Brief History: The Zaldívar deposit was discovered in 1979. Exploration drilling was carried out from 1981 to 1984. In 1989, the mining rights were sold to Sociedad Minera La Cascada Limitada, which in November that year transferred them to Outokumpu under a sales contract with Outokumpu Resources (Services) Limited. In December 1992, Outokumpu announced the formation of a 50:50 joint venture with Placer, at which time joint venture company CMZ was formed.

In November 1995, commercial production started. The capital cost of the project was estimated at $600-million. In December 1999, Placer acquired Outokumpu’s 50% interest in CMZ. In March 2006, Barrick acquired Placer and became owner of the project.

Brief Description: The Zaldívar mine is a traditional openpit truck/shovel operation. The openpit has seven phases remaining. The ultimate pit will measure an estimated 2.8 km east to west, 2.6 km north to south, and have a maximum depth of about 630 m. Waste and ore are mined on 15 m benches. The current mine life is from 2012 to 2028.

Geology/Mineralisation: The Zaldívar porphyry copper deposit is situated on the western margin of the Atacama Plateau in northern Chile. The deposit is part of a large Tertiary porphyry copper system that includes the Escondida porphyry copper deposit. This porphyry complex occurs within the West Fissure structural system, a major regional feature that has controlled the emplacement of some of the largest porphyry copper deposits in northern Chile. The West Fissure system extends for about 1 000 km and separates Paleozoic rocks to the east from Mesozoic and Paleocene rocks to the west.

The Zaldívar deposit occurs at the intersection of three major sets of faults striking north-south, northwest-southeast, and northeast-southwest. This structural setting has controlled the emplacement of the intrusives and hypogene mineralisation, as well as leaching and secondary enrichment.

There are three main lithologic units at Zaldívar: the Zaldívar porphyry, the andesite unit and the Llamo porphyry.

Most of the copper at Zaldívar occurs in a blanket of oxide and secondary sulphide mineralisation that overlies deeper primary sulphide mineralisation. The oxide mineralisation mostly occurs in the andesite unit, whereas the secondary sulphide mineralisation generally occurs in the Zaldívar porphyry. The most economically important mineralisation types are secondary sulphide (chalcocite) and oxide (brochantite and chrysocolla). CMZ is currently investigating the economic potential of the primary sulphide mineralisation, which consists of pyrite, chalcopyrite, bornite, and molybdenite.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2013, were 555.06-million tons grading 0.54 g/t of gold.

Resources: Total measured resources as at December 31, 2013, were 110.58-million tons grading 0.445 g/t of gold. Total indicated resources were 55.939-million tons grading 0.461 g/t of gold. Inferred resources were 10.57-million tons grading 0.591 g/t of gold.

Products: Gold.

Mining Method: The Zaldívar mine is a traditional openpit truck/shovel operation.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Processing is based on two heap-leaching streams – one crushed and one run-of-mine (RoM). Separation of the ore types is done by the mine department based on blasthole sample analysis. Primary processing is based on heap leaching a crushed material (80% passing 13 mm) using a dynamic (on-off) heap-leach facility. Additionally, marginal ores are processed through dump leaching at an RoM material size on a static pad. Pregnant solution from both leach pads is pumped to the solvent extraction electrowinning plant for metal extraction and production as copper cathodes. From the crushing circuit, 3% of the ore tonnage for the dynamic heap-leach processing ends up in fines, which are deposited in a sediment pond as a result of the washing system incorporated in the tertiary crushing system. These sediments are periodically processed through a small flotation plant and a copper concentrate is produced for sale.

The dynamic heap-leach facility is based on a nominal 65 000 t/d operation. The RoM dump-leach facility is based on the dynamic heap-leach capacity and ore availability in the mine.

Prospects: Production at Zaldívar is expected to decrease in 2014, with fewer ore tons mined and processed in line with the mine plan. Production will also be impacted by lower recoveries as the mine processes a higher percentage of secondary sulphide material.

Contact Person: Investor relations.

Contact Details:
Barrick Gold Corporation,
Tel +1 416 861 9911,
Email investor@barrick.com, and
Website http://www.barrick.com.