Barrick Gold Corporation
GOLD
recently stated that its North Mara mine has fulfilled its commitment to bring the operation’s tailings storage facility’s (“TSF”) pond back in line with best international practices as well as the company’s own tailings management standards.
Barrick had acquired the old Acacia assets in Tanzania in September 2019. The country’s National Environment Management Council closed down the TSF as it was holding significantly more water than it should. GOLD had partnered with the government to supervise the mines and made the commitment to bring the TSF pond within its permitted design capacity by the end of this year.
The gains from the joint venture included the swift resumption of operations at North Mara and the revival of the Bulyanhulu mine, both of which have become valuable additions to Barrick’s portfolio.
To achieve the target, Barrick invested more than $65 million in the project, increasing the capacity of the water treatment plant 16-fold to 40 million litres per day. A brine treatment plant has been added to reduce the volume of salts in the effluent water, which also enabled safe storage of water. North Mara will continue to monitor the TSF’s performance, analyze drinking water wells and surface water sources surrounding the mine and ensure that its high standards are maintained.
GOLD’s shares have declined around 19.2% over the past year, underperforming the
industry
’s 13.3% decline.
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On its third-quarter earnings call, Barrick stated that it anticipates attributable gold production to be 4.4-4.7 million ounces for 2021. AISC is expected to be $970-$1,020 per ounce and cost of sales is projected to be $1,020-$1,070 per ounce.
The company also expects copper production to be 410-460 million pounds at AISC of $2.00-$2.20 per pound and cost of sales of $1.90-$2.10 per pound.
Capital expenditures are projected between $1,800 million and $2,100 million.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
GOLD currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks from the basic materials space include
Univar Solutions Inc.
UNVR
,
The Chemours Company
CC
and
AdvanSix Inc.
ASIX
, each carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here
.
Univar has an expected earnings growth rate of 55.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised 9% upward over the past 60 days.
Univar’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the earnings surprise being 24.1%, on average. UNVR’s shares have rallied 43.8% over a year.
Chemours has an expected earnings growth rate of 105.1% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CC’s earnings for the current year has been revised 10% upward in the past 60 days.
Chemours’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 34.2%, on average. CC has gained 22.8% over a year.
AdvanSix has an expected earnings growth rate of 197% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised 14.1% upward over the past 60 days.
AdvanSix’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the earnings surprise being 47%, on average. ASIX’s shares have surged 127.6% over a year.
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