By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
BARRICK Gold reported a 78 percent jump in first-quarter profit of 2021 owing to rising gold and copper prices on the market.
Stronger prices helped boost Barrick’s revenue from its copper mines in Chile, Saudi Arabia and Zambia by 31 percent from the fourth quarter.
Toronto-based Barrick on Wednesday reported a first-quarter profit of US$538 million, up from US$400 million a year ago, as revenue rose to nearly US$2.96 billion from US$2.72 billion.
Adjusted profit surged 78 percent to US$507 million in the quarter ended March 31, from US$285 million a year earlier, and Barrick announced a nine cent per share quarterly dividend.
This is according to Barrick Gold Chief Executive Officer, Mark Bristow, who said this during a conference call to discuss Barrick’s results from the first three months of the year 2021. Mr Bristow said copper stood to grow in importance for the world’s second-biggest gold miner after 10-year-high prices for the commodity bolstered its first-quarter earnings.
Copper revenues increased 31 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2020 as Barrick’s realised price rose to US$4.12 per pound from US$3.39 in the previous quarter and US$2.23 in the year-earlier period.
“Barrick plans to continue its copper-directed exploration efforts while banking increasing revenue from existing mines as prices rise to more than US$4.50 per pound.
“We see our own copper portfolio as a source of differentiation to our gold industry peers, providing shareholders with meaningful exposure from assets that are in production today,” he said.
Mr Bristow indicated that based on the current spot pricing, copper was expected to represent at least 20 percent of the company’s gold-equivalent ounces sold from 2021 to 2025, up from the 16 percent contribution in 2020, based on actual realised prices. Gold production, meanwhile, fell to 1.1 million ounces from 1.2 million in the year-earlier period but the realized price was US$1,777 per ounce, up 12 percent from US$1,589.
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