Barrick Gold Corporation GOLD announced that work has begun on the recommissioning of the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea, which has been in care and maintenance since April 2020. This work is expected to be finished in the next weeks, allowing mining and processing to resume in the first quarter of 2024.
Barrick officials who were engaged in the negotiations that resulted in the restart deal indicated that the mine’s new ownership structure was consistent with the company’s host nation partnership business strategy.
Porgera, which is operated by Barrick through Barrick Niugini Limited, a joint venture with Zijin Mining, joins the company’s sector-leading gold asset portfolio and has the potential to become a Tier One production.
Shares of Barrick have gained 5.3% over the past year compared with a 10.9% rise of its industry.
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For 2023, Barrick anticipates attributable gold production to be modestly below the bottom end of its earlier announced guidance of 4.2-4.6 million ounces.
AISC is projected to be $1,170-$1,250 per ounce. Cash costs per ounce are forecast to be $820-$880 per ounce. The company also expects to see a cost of sales of $1,170-$1,250 per ounce.
GOLD expects a copper production of 420-470 million pounds at AISC of $2.95-$3.25 per pound, cash costs per ounce of $2.05-$2.25 and cost of sales of $2.60-$2.90 per pound.
Capital expenditures are projected to be around the midpoint of the full-year guidance of $2,200-$2,600 million.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Barrick currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Denison Mines Corp. DNN, Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. AXTA and Hawkins, Inc. HWKN.
Denison Mines has a projected earnings growth rate of 100% for the current year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). DNN delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 225%, on average. The stock is up around 50% in a year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Axalta has a projected earnings growth rate of 5.4% for the current year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. AXTA delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 6.7%, on average. The stock is up around 33.8% in a year.
Hawkins has a projected earnings growth rate of 21% for the current year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Hawkins delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 27.5%, on average. HWKN shares are up around 81.7% in a year.
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