Barrick Gold held to its production target for the year after a decline in gold output and a lift in copper in the latest quarter.
The Canadian company, one of the world's biggest producers of gold, recorded preliminary third-quarter production of 943,000 ounces of the precious metal and sales of 967,000 ounces. That would mark a slight decline from 948,000 ounces produced the quarter before.
Total copper output is estimated at 48,000 metric tons, while preliminary sales were 42,000 tons, Barrick said. The miner produced 43,000 tons the quarter before.
Barrick said it continues to expect a materially stronger final quarter, allowing it to deliver production in line with its earlier guidance of 3.9 million to 4.3 million ounces of gold and 180,000 to 210,000 metric tons of copper this year.
The company, which aims to lift attributable production by roughly 30% in gold-equivalent ounces by the end of the decade, its Pueblo Viejo operation in the Dominican Republic saw an improved in gold production with continued plant optimization, while the North Mara mine in Tanzania had a stronger quarter due to higher grades. Turquoise Ridge mine in Nevada also saw an improvement in gold output as a stronger underground mining performance offset a planned shutdown of an autoclave during the quarter, the company said.
On the copper side of the business, production was lifted primarily by higher grades and recoveries at Lumwana in Zambia, following improved ore access driven by the ramp up in stripping activities the quarter before, Barrick said.
The company is scheduled to release its quarterly financial results Nov. 7.
