Barrick Gold Corporation, the world's largest gold miner, announced today that it considering spending about $2 billion on operations in Nevada and Peru starting in 2019. After a year during which the Toronto-based gold producer sold off numerous assets in order to manage massive debts, chairman John Thornton discussed the possible acquisitions at the company's first investor day in five years, according to the Globe and Mail.
"We will, over time, prove to you that we are not only discerning sellers... We are also discerning buyers, capable of consistently creating per-share value for our owners," Thornton announced to attendees in New York.
He did not explain what kinds of prospective acquisitions might be sought, but the company suggested that it could spend $2 billion to add or accelerate the gold production projects at the Cortez, Goldrush and Turquoise Ridge properties in Nevada, and at the Lagunas Norte mine in Peru.
No final decision has been made, but a pre-feasibility study estimated that a $1 billion initial capital investment in its Goldrush project in Nevada, based on a start of construction in 2020, would produce 440,000 ounces of gold a year, with all-in sustaining costs of $665 per ounce, explained Reuters. To boost production at Turquoise Ridge, $300 to $325 million would be needed, and the Cortez project would require an estimated $153 million, with construction starting in 2019 or 2020.
Additionally, around $640 million would be necessary to extend Peru's Lagunas Norte project by another nine years, according to Canadian Mining Journal.
Barrick Gold Corp., along with its numerous international subsidiary companies, maintains a problematic human rights and environmental record. At Barrick's North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania, for example, watchdog MiningWatch Canada reported that site security used excessive force towards miners, with victims and their families conveying stories of gang rape and severe beatings. Victims were forced to sign contracts that relinquished their right to take legal action against Barrick Gold and its subsidiaries.
The company, which has one of the highest debt loads of any gold miner - with outstanding debt of about $9.77 billion as of Dec. 31 - sold many of its non-core assets in order to cut debt by $3 billion last year, according to Reuters.
