Canadian miner Barrick Gold
said on Tuesday that its gold and copper production fell sequentially in the first quarter, hurt by lower grades and maintenance at its mines.
The company added that it expects gold and copper production to increase each quarter through the year, with its Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic ramping up from the second quarter.
Barrick reported a total preliminary output of 940,000 ounces of gold and 40,000 tonnes of copper in the three months ended March 31, down from 1.05 million ounces of gold and 113 million pounds of copper in the previous quarter.
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce of gold in the quarter, an industry metric that reflects total expenses, is expected to be about 7 per cent to 9 per cent higher than previous quarter.
Copper’s AISC for the first quarter is expected to rise between 14 per cent to 16 per cent from the previous quarter.
U.S. shares of the firm were 1.4 per cent lower in premarket trading, while spot gold was down 0.4 per cent.
The Toronto, Canada-based company is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter results on May 1, 2024