Barrick Gold added millions to its gold reserves last year and is looking to even more growth in 2024 now its Porgera gold mine has reopened in PNG.
Barrick’s gold reserves grew by five million ounces by the end of 2023 before its annual depletion.
The company’s gold reserves now stand at 77 million ounces at 1.6 grams per tonne of gold.
After the 2023 depletion, the miner is one million ounces ahead of its reserves at the end of the previous year.
“In order for our industry to help build a better world, we have to invest in our own future by creating value through exploration, leveraging our capital infrastructure base by replacing the ounces that we mine,” Barrick president and chief executive officer Mark Bristow said.
“That in turn enables us to provide multi-generational investment in our communities, developing local service provider partnerships, and investing in improving our operating environments.”
Barrick has delivered a third consecutive year of organic gold reserve growth over and above annual depletion.
The company has now seen a replacement of over 140 per cent of the company’s gold reserve depletion since end of 2019.
Since then, Barrick has added over 29 million ounces to its portfolio, with no plans of slowing down.
Mining is set to begin at Porgera this quarter, paving the way for even more growth for Barrick in 2024.
“It’s been a long journey but in the process we have secured the buy-in of all the stakeholders and we look forward to steering the mine back to world-class production,” Bristow said.
“It undoubtedly has the potential to join our Tier 1 gold mine portfolio, the largest of its kind in the industry.”
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