Barrick Gold Corporation released its annual reserve and resource declaration with its Q4 and year-end results to December 31, 2020. Attributable mineral reserves reflect a 76% replacement of depletion, with a consistent reserve grade maintained year-on-year, after adjustment for the disposal of Massawa. Similarly, excluding the impact of Massawa, the net reduction in reserves year-on-year is approximately 2%. Attributable group reserves, reported at $1,200/oz1, stand at 1,300 million tonnes at 1.66g/t for 68 million ounces2 of gold.
Armed with the introduction of on-site mineral resource management and an intensified focus on geology, Barrick has spent the two years since the Randgold merger improving knowledge of its orebodies. At the same time, it has transferred ownership and responsibility for the orebodies to the mines, empowering and integrating the on-site mineral resource, geology and planning teams.
Barrick’s mineral resource management and evaluation executive, Rod Quick, says the company has made significant progress in developing Life of Mine optimizations based on high-confidence geological models as well as operating plans, ounce profiles and cost forecasts.
“As our understanding of the orebodies increases, the potential for sustainable resource to reserves conversion will grow, but it will take time for the group to reach the replacement levels of the Africa and Middle East region,” Quick said.
Total attributable group gold resources increased in 2020, net of depletion and excluding the impact of the disposal of Massawa. Inclusive of reserves and reported at a gold price of $1,500/oz1, attributable measured and indicated resources stood at 3,300 million tonnes at 1.52g/t for 160 million ounces2, with a further 980 million tonnes at 1.4g/t for 43 million ounces2 in the inferred category.
Copper mineral reserves for 2020 are calculated using a copper price of $2.75 per pound and mineral resources are calculated at $3.50 per pound, both rates unchanged from 2019. Attributable measured and indicated copper resources were 25 billion pounds2 at an average grade of 0.36%, and inferred copper resources2 were 2.2 billion pounds at an average grade of 0.2%. Attributable proven and probable copper reserves were 13 billion pounds2 at an average grade of 0.39%.
For further details, please refer to the Reserves and Resources section of the MD&A in Barrick’s Q4 and year-end 2020 report.
Enquiries
President and CEO
Mark Bristow
+1 647 205 7694
+44 788 071 1386
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Graham Shuttleworth
+1 647 262 2095
+44 779 771 1338
Investor and Media Relations
Kathy du Plessis
+44 20 7557 7738
Email: barrick@dpapr.com
Website: www.barrick.com