Shares of Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) were trading marginally higher, up 0.44% in Tuesday’s premarket session after the company released preliminary Q2 production numbers and said it is on track to achieving full-year gold and copper guidance.
Barrick said it produced 948,000 ounces of gold and 43,000 tonnes of copper, and reported preliminary Q2 sales of 956,000 ounces of gold and 42,000 tonnes of copper. Both gold and copper production are set to progressively increase with each quarter as guided previously, with a higher weighting in the second half.
The average price of gold was $2,338/oz and of copper was $4.42/lb in the second quarter, the company said.
Increased gold production at Turquoise Ridge as well as the completion of maintenance at Sage autoclave in Q1 contributed to the increased production of gold in Q2 versus Q1. “These increases were partially offset by planned lower production at Cortez and Phoenix. Pueblo Viejo production was flat sequentially as throughput is ramped up with a shift to recovery rate optimization in H2 2024,” the company said in its statement.
Meanwhile, higher grades and recoveries at Lumwana following a ramp-up in stripping activities and the planned shutdown in the first quarter contributed to higher copper production in the second quarter.
While all-in sustaining costs are expected to be 1-3% higher for both gold and copper in Q2, costs are expected to drop in the second half as production ramps up.