Gold mining major Barrick Gold on Thursday reported a solid operating performance across its portfolio, announcing preliminary first-quarter production of 1.37-million ounces of gold and 106-million pounds of copper.
This, the NYSE- and TSX-listed company said, was in line with its operating plans and its guidance.
The miner is targeting gold production of between 5.1-million and 5.6-million ounces and copper output of between 375-million and 430-million pounds in 2019.
The majority of Barrick’s production comes from its Nevada mines, which delivered 572 000 oz in the first three months of the year.
Barrick last month agreed to form a joint venture (JV) with US major Newmont in Nevada, which will create the single-largest gold operation. The company said on Thursday that it continued to “rapidly progress” the implementation of the JV.
The Democratic Republic of Congo-based Kibali, which Barrick acquired through its acquisition of Randgold Resources, is also putting in a strong performance. The miner stated that Kibali was on track for another record performance this year, following on the record year it had in 2018. The mine is 45%-owned by Barrick and contributed 93 000 oz to the group’s first-quarter output.
Barrick sold 1.37-million ounces of gold and 103-million pounds of copper in the first quarter. The average market price for gold was $1 304/oz and the average market price for copper in the first quarter was $2.82/lb.
In the first quarter of 2018, Barrick produced 1.05-million ounces of gold and 85-million pounds of copper.
The miner will report its first-quarter results on May 8.