Barrick Mining Corporation

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the BEREC 2020 fourth quarter results conference call. During the presentation, all participants are in listen only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. At that time, if you have a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. At any time during the conference, should you need operator assistance, please press star and zero. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded and a replay will be available on the Barrick's website later today, February 18th, 2021. I would now like to turn you over to Mark Bristow, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you very much and good morning and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome again to our presentation of Barrick 20 and Q4 results. The past year has been one of delivery and development in the face of unprecedented challenges. We delivered on our production guidance, and at the same time, we continued our key projects. Amongst the Pueblo Viejo expansion plan, the turquoise ridge, the gold rush operation declines, and the underground mine at Goncota. We have moved our understanding of our ore bodies by putting geology front and center, and we can now optimize our mine plans on firm foundations. The sale of non-core assets generated the $1.5 billion we promised, and by cleaning up our portfolio, we aligned it with our strategic focus of Tier 1 mines. A world-class business needs a global present. I operate tier one assets in any jurisdiction, which means that some of our operations are located in more geopolitical domains. In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, last year we also had to deal with the Argentina financial crisis, a coup in Mali, the major impact of political power movement in the DRC, and the closure of Paulborough in Papua New Guinea. Barrick has clearly demonstrated that it can manage risks across a broad range of assets, with the leadership capable not only of running a large and complex business, but also of recognizing and realizing new opportunities. Please take note of this cautionary statement, and for those who need more time to review, it is available on our website. The key in the past year's performance was the effectiveness of our ESG strategy, which is powered at all levels by a long-established partnership philosophy and our close relationship with all our stakeholders. from investors to host communities. This was evident in very successful COVID containment programs, which buffered the impact of the pandemic on our business and our people, and also enabled us to provide much needed and welcome support to our host countries. E in ESG has been getting most of the attention recently, but I would argue that its social dimension is as important. I'm particularly concerned that the issue of poverty, arguably the greatest problem facing mankind, is not more prominently on the agenda. The world's poorest people live in its poorest weeks, and easing their lot will require global and not just . This is not to say that we should underestimate the gravity of the environmental challenge. Barrick has a clear roadmap for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which is based on climate sites and operational realities. rather than wishful thinking or long-dated aspirations. Our landmark targets listed here are under constant review. All our operations have practical plans for transitioning to cleaner and more efficient energy sources and water management, and we are cognizant of the necessity to innovate new power plans for our future miles. In short, Barrick aspires to be an industry leader ESG as in other things. This is our health and safety scorecard for 2020. And as you can see, there was a significant improvement with both lost time and total recordable injuries decreasing by big margins. Unfortunately, as previously disclosed, an otherwise impeccable record by a tragic fatality at Kabali in November of 2020. There were no high severity environmental incidents across the group during the year, and the number of medium severity events declined. As these numbers show, we've continued to reduce our emissions and improve our water usage and recycling rates. Water we return is in better shape than the water we receive. The photographs on the right show one example of the difference we've made since taking over North Mara, where one of our priorities was water management plan. Our social license to operate requires the goodwill of our host communities and is closely aligned with our partnership philosophy. During 2020, fully functional community development committees were established at all our operational sites, and they were instrumental in deciding how best to invest the more than $26 million we spent on quality of life in the course of the year. Last year, we set ourselves very specific objectives. As you can see here, we ticked all those boxes. We met our production target, delivered on our business plans, and fully capitalized on the higher gold price and copper prices. We increased free cash flow to an annual record of $3.4 billion against a 27% rise in the gold price. And we achieved our goal of zero net debt by the end of the year. It's worth calling that as recently as 2013, Barrick was burdened by debt of more than $13 billion. The quarterly dividend has also tripled since the merger with Rangold. And since it was announced more than two years ago, we've, as I said, tripled the quarterly dividend. And in addition to the dividend, as you all have read today, we are proposing a capital return to shareholders of $750 million to be paid in three tranches. through this year. This return is sourced from the proceeds of the sale of our stake in Kalgoorlie, as well as other non-core assets since 2019, in line with our policy of returning surplus funds to our shareholders. The solid operating results were driven by another performance from Pueblo Verco, the Dominican Republic, the wrap of Bullion Hulu in Tanzania, and the continued improvement at the Turquoise Ridge Complex in Nevada. As I noted earlier, production was at the midpoint of gardens, and total cash costs and all in sustaining costs were within the garden range, despite higher royalties due to the gold price. Our record free cash flow and zero net debt are particularly gratifying features of the numbers, as are the very significant returns we delivered to our shareholders. It's also noting that Moody's has upgraded our BAA1, which is the largest of the gold sector. It's my view that that the consolidation of the gold industry is not yet complete. And as these numbers show, Barrick is well equipped to play a big part in future developments. Now to North America and our operations there. We start with a five-year outlook for that region. Going forward, are advancing our all-body knowledge, deep production profile, and managing all in sustaining costs. This is consistent with our November investor day with some capital shifted from 20 into both 2021 and 2022. There are also some opportunities to this that I will touch on in the next few slides. In Nevada, the best potential for near to medium-term life of mine additions are at North Neval, Four Mile, and Gold Rush, as well as the Wren Project at Goldstrike. The best opportunities for significant new discoveries are in the area between Turquoise Ridge and Twin Creeks, between Pipeline and Robertson, and at the Cortez Complex in Carlin Basin south of Gold Quarry. I have great expectations for the North Leval area, and the team is currently prioritizing the improvement of the geological model and drilling to accelerate the delivery of ounces into the Carlin mining plant. Results to date from five of seven drill holes have confirmed at least two emerging high-grade areas above the average reserve grade at Leeville. Drilling closer to the existing mine infrastructure continues to extend the turf ore body to the north and the west. The Carlin Complex is richly endowed with gold deposits. And this flagship asset has some very exciting opportunities, not only for resource expansion, but also for new world-class discoveries. In 2020, the Carlin Complex delivered at the midpoint of its production guidance and also kept costs well within the guidance range. This year and the next we'll see substantial investment in the future. In addition to growing ounces through exploration at North Leeville, Rita K and Wren, the introduction of improvements to increase processing options as well as lower costs also on the agenda. Like Carlin, the Cortez complex has a wealth of opportunities for expansion and growth. The Gold Rush and Four Mile discoveries are good examples of our policy of first understanding the geological framework and then building the exploration programs around that. At Four Mile, the improved confidence in our geological understanding is demonstrated by our first declaration of an indicated resource just under half a million ounces at around 10 tons, while still growing the inferred resource to 2.3 million ounces at around 11 grams per ton by including Sophia. I have no doubt that this resource will grow once we drive the development from Gold Rush and in full drill the four mile project. Still in the Cortez complex, Pipeline Crossroads is a world class legacy deposit and we continue to grow the resources at the Robertson deposit. We are also progressing the feasibility work at Robertson while taking a closer look at what lies between them. Cortez itself exceeded the top end of its production guidance last year. The Gold Rush project is on track to expose its first ore in the first half of this year. And the government's record of decision is now expected in the first quarter of 2022 rather than the quarter of this year. This, however, will not impact the mine plan with a focus now on better understanding of the ore body as we open it up while we finish the underground feasibility study for the standalone gold rush portion. We're exploring the possibility, as I indicated earlier, of reducing the cost and timing of drilling at Four Mile through underground access from Gold Rush. Once Gold Rush and Four Mile are up and running, they will boost the Cortez Complex's annual production and ensure its Tier 1 status for years to come. Turquoise Ridge at highest grades in the industry, but was developed as a low-tonnage, high-grade mine, and not based on a proper geological model. This project and mine represents a significant opportunity for improvement. It has two huge deposits at either end of an eight-kilometer trend. both with a historically poor geological understanding and a lot of potentially prospective ground between them. We've done a great deal of work on this since the formation of Nevada Gold Mines, and we're starting to generate new targets in what was thought to be a maturing district. As shown in the section, The newly discovered midway fault between Turquoise Ridge and Twin Creeks could be an important district snail mineralization control. The Turquoise Ridge complex has been struggling and production for the year fell short of guidance. There was a marked turnaround, however, in the fourth quarter and ongoing optimization should deliver further improvements for this year. including a ramp up and underground development. Construction of the third shaft remains on schedule and within budget with commissioning plan for late 2022. The shaft is designed to be able to increase hoisting capacity, improve ventilation, and shorten haulage distances for that operation. Still in Nevada, Phoenix and Long Canyon are small but very efficient low-cost operations, both exceeding the top end of production guidance and delivering exceptional margins. North of the border in our home country, Canada, HEMLA has made a remarkable journey from survival mode to a potential tier two mine. At the time of the merger, we doubted whether it was actually a profitable asset. But after unpacking the geology and rebuilding the models, we found many opportunities, not only to turn it into an efficient underground operation, but also to build its reserves and extend its life. Most notably, recent drilling has indicated the potential for a discrete parallel mineralized structure to the west of the main sea zone. Further drilling is planned in 2020 to improve the geological understanding of this area. Last year, Hemlo beat the top end of its production guidance And this year, a separate portal development will access its upper sea zone, providing a third mining front and increased flexibility. Mining there is expected to begin in the second half of this year. Latin America is a region with many challenges. mainly legacy issues that impact on our social license to operate, but also an abundance of opportunities. We've put a lot of work into fixing our businesses and relationships there. And last year, I personally visited the region four times with Mark Hill, who leads that region of Barrack, to review progress at our operations and also to meet with governments and community leaders leaders and really invest in our new management teams across that region. All the problems have been or are being addressed and even the situation in Papua New Guinea is progressing to what I trust will be a reasonable, acceptable resolution to BAREC as well as the government. In the meantime, We have left Pogra out of our gardens and intend to add it back once we are able to reach agreement with the various stakeholders in Papua New Guinea, including government and the landowners. I would also point to the reduced production forecast at Valadera compared to what we shared with you at our November Investor Day. This is mainly due to the transition plan to the new phase 6 to 10 project from the old valley leaching facility they have only recently finalized with the government. We have a new exploration and new business team for the region and as a result are working to expand our footprint and open up new opportunities across South America. I also refer you to Tuesday's announcement on the sale of Lagunas Norte, which is, this is in Peru, which is part of our continued rationalization of our portfolio that does not fit with our long-term investment strategy. At Pueblo Verde, new targets have been identified, and a particularly interesting one is being developed south of the Moa pits within the joint venture mining lease. Also, our recently established Pueblo Grande project immediately adjacent to the PV tenements has secured a strategically important parcel of land, which is critical for PV's expansion plan. Pueblo Viejo staged a great second half recovery, posting a mill throughput record for the second straight year to achieve its production guidance. The expansion project will realize the operation's full potential by unlocking just over 9 million ounces of gold currently excluded from reserves due to the lack of adequate tailings and storage facilities. The plant is being upgraded to handle throughput of 14 million tonnes per annum, and as a consequence, we are planning to process more stockpile material there this year. This is the reason for slightly lower production guidance compared to 2020, and is in line with the forecast disclosed at our November investor day. The team is continuing its work with the new government and the community to secure land for the new TSF. The work associated with the TSF geotechnical and feasibility study is expected to be completed this year. In Valadera, Pasqualama District, a drilling program to test the link between the underlying deposit, geology, and metallurgical characteristics is underway. Around Valadera, there are still a number of untested opportunities to expand the resource and reserve base of both Llama and Valadera. Drilling to extend Valadera pit shell was also limited due to the impact of the pandemic, and we expect to catch up with that during this summer in 2021. In the El Indio region, short of a new greenfields discovery, our strategy is to build a critical mass of smaller deposits to create a mining complex capable of meeting our criteria. As we reported earlier, Valadero's production was impacted by the pandemic-related quarantine and movement restrictions imposed by the Argentine government. This also temporarily delayed the mine's transition to the new Phase 6 heat bleach facility, which is on track for completion now by the end of the first half of this year. As agreed upon with the government, heap leach processing will be reduced during the transition, impacting production. However, the mine's performance is expected to improve in the second half of the year after the new facility has been commissioned. Valadera's connection to Chile's power grid at Pascualama should be completed by the end of this year as well, which will also reduce unit costs for the operation. In Papua New Guinea, we have been engaging the government in discussions to seek a mutually acceptable way forward for the reopening of the Paul Gras mine, which as you know, has been in maintenance since the government refused to renew its special mining lease in April 2020. I am, in fact, speaking to you from the capital, Port Moresby, today where the discussions are occurring. If all goes well, Porgera should reopen this year, but for the time being, as I said in my introduction, we have excluded it from Barrick's 2021 guidance. The Africa and Middle East region has largely, as expected, driven the post-merger repositioning and reinvigoration of Barrick. Its five-year plan remains intact and steady while costs and capex coming down. And there are plenty of opportunities to drive this performance beyond the timeframe you see here. Our immediate objective for that region is to either extend the life of mine of Tongan or replace its production after 2023. The Lulo district in Mali is still our prolific generator of new ounces. Lulo Goncata again more than replaced depleted reserves last year and there are big opportunities for more in both the Lulo and Goncoto mining leases. Despite the political unrest in Mali, the complex exceeded the top end of its production guidance, highlighting again the importance of our strong in-country partnerships and the agility of its management. Its 10-year outlook is enhanced by the complex's third underground mine below the very profitable Goncato Pit, which is on track to deliver its first ore development tons in quarter two. And studies for a potential fourth underground mine at Lulo 3 are progressing. Our exploration group is also making good progress on advancing the targets across in Senegal on our Bombadji joint venture. In Cote d'Ivoire, brownfields exploration has added three years to Tongon's life and a recent identified 11 follow-up targets with the potential to meet our criteria and extend the life of mine further. Situated 15 kilometers from Tongon, the Mercator target is scheduled for resource definition and reserve conversion. The Cote d'Ivoire remains an attractive destination because of its prospectivity and relatively sophisticated infrastructure. And we continue our generative opportunities throughout the country with the aim of increasing our new ground holding. For reasons beyond its control, Tongan has led a troubled life, but it has always managed to be very profitable. And last year, it exceeded its budgeted production for the first time in its history. Its extended life of mine plan has been supported by additional exploration optionality in exchange for a lower production profile at slightly higher costs. Kabali grew its total reserves net of depletion for the successive years. Cabani was initially planned to progress to underground-only mining, but the discovery of a series of significant open-pit deposits has allowed us to gain processing flexibility by balancing the ore feed over the mine's 10-year plan. The updated plan increases the mine's gold production to more than 750,000 ounces a year sustained throughout the current plan, and given Kibale's strong target pipeline, likely beyond that. Kabali produced near the top end of its guidance range in 2020, while total cash costs and all its sustaining costs were at or below the bottom end of that range. Kabali is the most highly automated underground mine in the Barrick Group and a global leader in this field, which enables it to maximize its opportunities as well as its efficiencies. Its three hydropower stations keep its energy costs down, and the recent introduction of a battery-driven power performance system offers a further reduction of diesel-generated power. Turning now to Tanzania, we've achieved a great deal in this country since taking over the operations of the Acacia mines there. On the exploration front, the focus on getting a proper understanding of the geology is delivering exceptional results, with North Mara increasing its mineral reserves net of depletion in 2020, while a substantial growth of resources indicates a significant potential for extending its life of mine. Operationally, North Mara continues to improve, achieving production at the upper end of its guidance. There's still a lot to do to realize this mine's full potential, starting with a new oxygen plant and an upgrade of the cyclone cluster to increase recovery rate. I believe once we've brought North Mara and Bully and Hulu into the lower half of the cost curve, we'll be able to deliver another Tier 1 complex in Barrick's portfolio. Exploration at Bully and Hulu is producing some very encouraging results. And as our understanding of that ore body improves, it's becoming clear that it's of world-class proportions. with a measured and indicated resource of some 4.3 million ounces and an inferred resource of 8.3 million ounces, and still lots to do to achieve profitable conversion to reserves. The ramp-up of the underground mining and processing at Bully and Hulu is on track and will continue through the first half of the year. reaching steady-state annualized production into 2022. In the meantime, the feasibility study for an optimized mine plan is being progressed. Our third Tanzanian mine, Buswagi, is scheduled to enter care and maintenance on its way to closure starting in the third quarter of this year. Armed by the introduction of onsite mineral resource management and an intensified focus on geology, we've spent the two years since the merger improving our knowledge of the legacy Barrick ore bodies. We've made significant progress in developing life of mine optimizations based on high confidence geological models. as well as new operating plans, ounce profiles, and cost forecasts. When excluding the impact of the disposal of Masawa, our total resources grew in 2020 as expected, off the back of increasing inferred resources, while 76% of reserves were replaced net of depletion. This was also done while maintaining our above industry average resource and reserve grade and is a testament to our focus on ore body quality, which differentiates us from the rest of our industry. As our understanding of the ore bodies increases and as our drilling coverage improves, the potential for resource conversion to reserves will grow, but it will take some time for the group to reach the replacement levels of the Africa and Middle East region. It's also worth noting that we have continued to clean up our portfolio with a focus on assets and opportunities that meet our specific strategic objectives and investment forces. This is in line with our commitment to look to attract the best people to work with us to develop and mine the best assets in order to deliver long-term, sustainably profitable results. Our 10-year guidance is an important tool to manage our sustainable profitability strategy. This year's production as I've indicated, will be impacted by the continued closure of Pogra and the heap leach transition at Balladera. But there are significant opportunities ahead for improvement. And as I noted earlier, we have reason to believe that the Pogra issue could still be resolved positively. The Fire Bureau outlook For copper is also positive with all the trends as you see in this slide heading in the right direction. Our copper portfolio made another significant contribution to the group's bottom line last year. Though the advancement of Zeldabar's chloride leach project was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions in Chile, Lemana in Zambia produced near the top end of its guidance and Jabal Said exceeded its guidance. Costs for the overall copper portfolio were better or at the bottom of their guidance ranges. The change of copper reserves year on year principally reflect depletion through mining. With Lemana now operationally stable, there is significant exploration potential to grow resources and reserves on the property, while extensions on Load 1 at Jabal Said are progressing through pre-feasibility and should soon add to its reserves. As many of you know, Lumana has a colourful history, starting with its acquisition as part of the Equinox deal and followed by years of operational disappointments. What the African and Middle East team has done with this asset is quite remarkable and summarized on this slide. Through diligent operational stewardship focused on people, efficiencies, cost discipline, and sound geological and grade control practices, this mine now boasts a long life and significant future cash flow generation potential. Over the space of just two years, production has increased by 23%, costs have been reduced by 25%, and at around $3.50 copper price, which is a little below where it is today, the mine could produce in excess of $250 million today, in free cash flow per annum for many years to come. A real testimony to the Barrick operating philosophy. The new Barrick's foundational objective was to build a business capable of delivering the industry's best returns. Two years on, we've made considerable progress towards that goal. The dividend has tripled, cash flows have increased to record levels, and the once crippling debt burden has been lifted. These achievements were produced on the foundation of a great asset base, a fit for purpose corporate structure, and a lean and agile leadership who have more than lived up to our best people mantra. We've had our fair of challenges, of course, and then some. But we've overcome them. We've found or created new opportunities to support our sustainable profitability strategy. And we're more than ready to exploit the openings that will be offered by the dynamics of the gold industry. And finally, As is customary, how is the look back on our performance since the merger? While I firmly believe there is significant value left in our share price before any further improvements or growth prospects, we have already demonstrated clear outperformance. As can be seen from this chart, Barrick's share price has outperformed for the past 30 months. A shareholder in either Rangold or Barrick at the time of the merger would now be some 30% ahead of the GDX. Importantly, we are just at the beginning of an exciting and value-creating journey. Thank you everyone for listening and thank you for your attention. I've got a good spread of executives on the call to assist me in any questions, so we'd be happy to pass back to the operator and take questions.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. We will pause for a moment as callers join the queue. Our first question comes from Josh Wilson of RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Good morning. You know, Mark, I noticed there were a couple of headlines today on the topic of M&A and consolidation and the company sort of reiterating its interest in being part of those discussions as well as some views on copper. Could you sort of, I guess, update us with what the views are more specifically, I guess, in terms of Barrick's own copper portfolio and then maybe how you look at these opportunities, you know, in the context of the market today with there being a premature difference in how copper prices have performed versus gold?

Hi, Josh. So I think the best way for me to answer that question, which is pretty broad, is to take you back to 2008, 9, 10, and 11. We're in a very similar place today. And, you know, it was a transformational period for Rangold Resources at that time, an increasing gold price increase. Notwithstanding that, we did do a very critical deal right in the middle of a big bull market in acquiring Mato and ultimately led to the Kabali mind of today. At the same time, we had a big capital program. We were building out on Tongon as well. And so we use that opportunity not only to expand our business, but also to pay down our debt. And, you know, you've seen the same focus this time around. You know, we've brought the debt down. We have no net debt now. And we've started a dividend policy already before the gold price started moving. This has allowed us to return more to our shareholders as we did in the 2019. In fact, it started in 2008, a 13-year successive increase in the dividend we paid, despite the ups and downs of the gold price. And Barrick is at that point. We have committed to returning about a 3.6% yield on the share price of a couple of days ago with the proposed 750 capital return that we shared with you today. And at the same time, we're not putting the company into any sort of debt, a net debt. We've got lots of liquidity. We've built out our exploration teams in all three regions. Very solid leadership. I think we've demonstrated that our mineral resource management and planning capabilities are now well entrenched. And our executive teams, you know, led by Catherine, Mark, and Willem, you know, certainly can all take on an extra asset or in the case of Latin and Asia Pacific, probably more than one. Mark would say. So we're well positioned. We've got the strongest balance sheet in the industry. It's still growing. And so now it's about making sure that we deliver it, deliver that value to our shareholders in a proper and considered basis. And, again, you know, the question I would ask is in this bull market that we find ourselves in, And everyone's paying for more and more money to be returned to the shale. There's very few people investing in their own future. Everyone harvesting. And this is a cyclical business. We're up there near the top of the cycle. And managing this requires some conservatism and considered you know, decisions. And we think that we've certainly experienced in this. We've got good memories, particularly Graham and I and the other executives in my team. And so now, and, you know, there are lots and lots, as you know, Josh, there are lots and lots of businesses, whether it's copper or gold, that just three years ago certainly were on the watch list. And suddenly they are, you know, there's no risk and stress anymore. And so with that comes opportunity. As you know, the discussions between Barrick and Randall started in late 2015 and took some time to find a deal which really delivered real benefits for all the owners of both companies. And so we're not, you know, everyone, as you see in the market today, everyone, every time you wake up, there's a different opinion that's considered to be the only opinion on where the markets are going to go and what's going to happen to gold and, you know, where you should be putting your money. And we're back in the great financial crisis as well. We believe... that the short or near term to mid term outlook on global markets are not clear. We believe that the technical support for a stronger goal pass is still very well embedded in the market. And we certainly haven't seen the consequence of this unprecedented quantitative easing that we've witnessed in the last nine months. You know, orders of magnitude of what we saw over the five-year plan. So that's, first of all, the way we frame our business. Now you look at how you grow. The best way to grow in times like this, of course, is organically. And one of the things that I hope I shared with you through this presentation is every single core asset in Barrick has real upside that you can demonstrate. Both, and in particular, most of them new discoveries as well as brownfields extensions. So that's the core component of our business. And, of course, there are and going to be further consolidation opportunities. And we believe that the challenge of doing those transactions is going to not only be commercial, but also the ability to be able to deliver a more aligned, more modern comfort to the owners, the long-term owners of these companies. And so, again, I started out with the sharing of our ESG strategy, which I believe that ultimately is going to become a key driver in, you know, one's ability to transact going forward. So that's gold side, and that's our core business. On the copper side, you know, again, we've demonstrated that we – We're capable of managing and delivering real value in the copper space. The miner has got a long history of poor performance. We've been able to rebuild it and position it. And we've always said, you know, our focus on copper is first prize. The copper comes with gold and younger gold copper geological terrains. And secondly, that we would pursue copper assets where they are located in countries where we have and can demonstrate a competitive advantage over the traditional copper miners. And we believe that that sort of. central African copper province offers that opportunity for us. At the same time, down in South America, there's lots of copper potential that comes with gold in the gold copper porphyries. And our exploration teams out into the Asia Pacific are also pursuing opportunities where, again, that geological association is clear. So we're not, you know, I think the market responds, you know, as though just because we talk about growth and we talk about the importance and significance of for Barrick to remain relevant in the industry, it needs to broaden into copper as being that we're going to sort of go out there and just buy the first copper asset or company, regardless of the opportunity to deliver value to both the target owners as well as our own. So, you know, we're not going to do that. You've walked this path with me for a long time, Josh. We've got too many checks and balances in my executive team to go out there and do something stupid. So watch this space. Give us time. We'll keep building our business in a considered way.

Thank you very much.

Our next question comes from Mike Parkin of National Bank. Please go ahead.

Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. One I had was, you know, we're seeing quite a cold snap come down through the U.S. I was wondering if there's been any negative impact to the Nevada gold mines operations due to that cold, or is it anything that you would expect to maybe drive a bit of a soft Q1 or something that would, you know, probably bounce back with the resumption of kind of normal temperatures?

Mark, I would just say that where our operations are located in Nevada, it's flipping cold this time of year, regardless of whether they're cold snaps. We don't notice a cold snap, it's just cold. We look forward to the odd sunny day. So it's a bit like West Africa when you have three months of rain where you get one meter dumped on you. We don't see it appropriate to use weather to explain why we can't run our mines. So our team's well equipped to manage weather in Northern Nevada, just like we are in the Andes in South America. So, you know, you definitely won't see anyone using it as an excuse. Okay.

And one last question on COVID. Do you see any potential to implement a company kind of, sponsored vaccine clinic to get vaccines to your employees at a faster rate than, you know, government programs? Or are you looking at it to just leave it with the governments of your respective host countries and go that route?

Well, you know, partner with our host countries and in the case of Nevada, our host state on combating COVID and its impact. By two operations, we now have COVID partnership-led PTR laboratories, which support our protocols and that we can turn around accurate tests in a couple of hours. And that's been very helpful. We've got two more to really roll out on a laboratory in Tanzania, which we're working on, and one in Zambia. We've just put one into Himla as well, or into the town of Marathon. So that's, you know, and again, in all our countries, we are very much part of the COVID task force. And our senior executives have now been included in the vaccine logistics and sort of management structures in our various regions and host counties or provinces. Catherine is very much part of that initiative in Canada as well as in Nevada, as is Greg in the immediate part of our Elko, Winnemucca region in Northern Nevada. And in Africa, we're part of the whole African Union initiative to source and support the rollout of vaccines. It's a little more complicated there. But, you know, there's been some movement recently, and we've seen the first Johnson and Johnson vaccines coming into South Africa. And we look forward to be able to manage that across the nations, across the countries in which we operate in Africa. South America, we were early partners with the Dominican Republic in setting up structures to purchase and order vaccines and get them into the country. We've got a very strong relationship and worked extremely well. It's one of our most responsive COVID initiatives has been the, as you know, Dominican Republic is being a holiday destination, but hit very hard in the early days of COVID. And then we are working again with the Argentinian government on sourcing vaccines. But again, all the emerging and developing world are slightly behind the developed economies as far as rolling out that vaccine. It's absolutely critical for the world to manage a global solution on the vaccine rollout. And so, you know, we are part of it. At this stage, it is not possible for private enterprises to purchase vaccines themselves. We are partnering with our host countries. And already, for instance, in Nevada, we're talking about, you know, rolling out some of the vaccines to the critical support staff within the mining industry, as well as other industries. So it's a very collaborative initiative and I mean, it's been an impressive partnership across all 13 of our host countries. And, you know, I'm optimistic about bringing this pandemic under control in the medium term. It's definitely not going to happen as quickly as everyone would have liked. And so, it's very important we all continue to exercise, you know, discipline and respect the protocols of social distancing, et cetera, until such time as we get a herd immunity entrenched in our populations.

Thanks, Mark, and all the best on the negotiations for Garrett. Thanks, Mark.

Our next question comes from Danielle Chigmira of Bernstein. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you. My first question is on your climate targets. So they seem significantly more ambitious than those set at the investor day. And so could you give us any color on specific projects or specific actions that you're planning which will lead to those higher reductions in greenhouse gases?

So Daniel, we are ambitious. I mean, we are very clear that our target is to achieve a 30% reduction by 2030. And, you know, I think the net zero target out to 2015 is a bit academic at the moment because I don't think, well, I know there's no gold mining company that goes to 2050 in the current plans. But important is that You know, we, I, and my team, my large team now, have always been absolutely clear that we manage our business on tangible plans. So there's a target. Everyone's, you know, been under pressure to accept that they're targeting X, Y, and Z. That doesn't mean anything if you don't have a real plan against which you can measure yourself. And so we started out with a plan to deliver a 10% reduction last year in our 2019 sustainability report. We've now increased that to 15% reduction. We've got a serious plan. Every single one of our operations has got a very specific greenhouse gas strategy plan. whether it's where we're rolling out the connection with the, to the Chilean power grid, which is the, has more sustainable power component to it than any other power . And so that really does take away significant emissions and also drops our costs materially in Baladera. In Dominican Republic, we are the leader in that country with a conversion from heavy fuel to natural gas, driving big turbines, very efficient, very low emissions, and not only for our that PV, but also for the nation. In Nevada, we bought with the joint venture the Newmont coal power station, and we have already well down the road on converting that to natural gas, and also we are busy permitting a 200 megawatt solar power station, which will be linked to that natural gas power facility. And we've got a second one as well. In Kibale, which is our youngest mine in the group, that we built on the back of hydropower installations. And recently, as I mentioned in my speech, we've added a big battery to that. And we've learned so much about how to form a grid, a mini-grid, in a remote place like the jungle in DRC. And that battery technology has proved to be invaluable and we're now looking at changing around the whole construction of our grid and using the battery as the formation to form the grid and the power, the hydro power to actually keep the batteries charged. And Kibale is unique in that it's got a big hoist and it's constantly drawing large amounts of power from the grid. But what we've learned there, we've just commissioned a 20 megawatt solar power station in Marilla, in Western Mali, and we now have an opportunity to install similar battery technology in, sorry, not Marilla, in Lula Goncato, and be able to form the grid and use the solar to keep those batteries powered and therefore do away with a lot more of the diesel and heavy fuel powered component of our power station there. So, and then the opportunities in, you know, Forbera has natural gas power and there's more and more opportunities now as people start investing in hydro in Papua New Guinea, which has got some very exciting potential sites for hydro power, particularly up in the highlands. So, you know, when you walk through our portfolio, I've just given you a quick brush of what, and of course, you know, you can't just say I'm going to reduce power. You've got to be able to plan to do it. And one of the things that Barrick is investing in is that technology to ensure that the next new mine we build has even more efficiency built into it as far as generation goes compared to, for instance, Kibale. So we're learning every day, and I believe that if we continue with that focus and every single general manager, senior executive in Barrick is an owner of this commitment to our stakeholders. I hope that answers your question.

That's very useful, Carla. Thank you. Just one more from me. On Tanzania, you talk about making North Mara plus fully a tier one mine, and I'm trying to conceptualize how that happens. Is it the case that some of the geological upside results in a different way of operating those mines, like in a broader complex? How should I be thinking about that?

300,000 ounces out of North Mara and more than About 250,000 ounces out of Bully and Hulu. You add them together, that's 550,000. Northmore is a moderate-grade mine. Bully is a high-grade mine. We drive the cost down to the bottom half of the cost curve, and you've got a Tier 1 complex combined in the country. And they both have more than 10 years' life, substantially more than 10 years' life. So that's really our focus and what's, you know, North Morrow's got a bit of a way to get to that low end of the cost curve, but we'll get it there because it's got so much upside. We've still got to lift the production. Bully, you know, has helped significantly by the grade of that oil money.

Great. That's useful. Thank you.

Our next question comes from Mike Dahl-Nonans. of Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Oh, hi, Mark. I hope all is well and you're not facing a cold snap in Port Moresby. Just moving to, I have a question on Hemlo, intrigued by the steady state, 1.9 million tons per annum production. How much tons will come from each of the mining fronts to get to that production level? And what will that mean to the mine production? Thanks.

So right now, my accounts have done no chance of a cold snap here in Fort Moresby, I can assure you. Buckets of water, yes. About the coldest you get is when you turn the air conditioner down to about 16 centigrade. The HEMLO is, you know, outlook this year is about 210,000 ounces. And the plan is to get it up to about 250,000 ounces from underground. And that's why we need that extra access in the upper sea zone, which we're developing now. And, I mean, you can do the math, just work it back, you know. But it's really... Our first prize would be to get it up to 250,000 ounces. As we improve the infrastructure, the hoisting, the ventilation, one of the big challenges is getting a lot of the waste out of the mine to improve our logistics and all movement. Right now, all that is constraining. We've still got to develop more long-haul open-stope opportunities. We've got to improve our black hole, and we've still got quite a bit of remnant mining that we're doing in this next year and perhaps the year – 2022. And at the same time, we're drilling and building that – reserve base to support a plus 10-year, plus 250,000 ounce producer, which makes it a substantial Canadian gold mine.

Okay. Well, thank you and good luck there.

You know that mine well, don't you, Mark?

Well, I saw it in 1980, no, 1988 with Corona.

That's it. So, and it's still got legs.

Yes, it does.

Our next question comes from Anita Soni of CIBC World Markets. Please go ahead.

Good morning. So my question is with regards to reserve replacement. So I saw some strong reserve replacement at pretty good grades, but I'm going to ask you about the areas that lagged a little bit, particularly at Nevada gold mines. And you guys had mentioned that it's going to take a few years to fully see the results, to get it up to where you are in Africa in terms of reserve replacement. So can you give us a little bit of color on the plan forward in the next year or two in terms of getting that – those grades and those ounces back up.

Yeah. So, Anita, you know, just trying to explain, I'm not sure about what you're talking about there because, you know, if you look at North America, we went from 31 million ounces in 2019 This is reserves now at 2.68 grams a ton to 29 million ounces at 2.8 grams a ton. So, you know, if you look at Africa, of course, we've grown, you know, certainly on the back of the Lulo, Boncato and Kibale and North Mara replacements. Tongon is, you know, a tougher nut to crack because it is in decline. And Bully and Hulu, the big growth will come as we complete the underground feasibility study. So, and North America is in good shape. You know, it's – first of all, you've got to build a resource profile, and we're very disciplined on the grade. And so – We've done that, and hopefully, Anita, you would have seen in my presentation me pointing to further resource expansion. And you've got to build that front ahead of the mining faces in inventory first, then in inferred. Ultimately, it gets into measured and indicated, which results in reserve. And, you know, it's going to take some time, but... 76% replacement right now with more than 100% replacement on the resource category bodes well for us to get all our assets delivering reserve replacement over time. And I'll just take you through it. As I pointed out, PV is a simple case of significant reserve growth Valadera, we didn't get the drilling done we wanted to in 2020 because of the restrictions of COVID. So a lot of that drilling has been rolled over to this year. And, you know, and again, we expect to make significant progress in the Cartesquinas, the four quarters expansion of the current Valadera pit. And then, you know, we've pointed to North Leeville, some significant upside potential. Rita Cay, we're busy drilling out. We've got the lower part of Rita Cay now coming into the mine plan and reserve conversion. The upper part, we're still dealing with the water table and making sure that it's accessible, which means you can bank it. We've got some into our mine plan and reserves, but still quite a lot more outstanding. There's still work to do in both Turquoise Ridge Underground as well as Twin Creeks. Cortez, you know, as we develop and deliver on the feasibility study for Gold Rush, you'll see some significant answers flowing into that complex. So, yeah, I'm really very comfortable about where we are as far as understanding our geology and being able to with some, you know, when I go to the mines now, just like I get in Kibale and Lulo, the MRM team have a plan to convert. So it's part of our business. And, I mean, we even added ounces in Pogra just before it was closed. And that's got some significant upside. And that's what comes with tier one assets. So I hope that gives you some comfort. You know, and the most important thing is that the quality of our resource stroke reserve assets is still intact, and we haven't allowed anything to deteriorate on the back of a higher gold price. We've kept the 1,200 discipline.

Yeah, no, I did notice the grades were maintained or if not improved at most of the assets. I was just drilling into some of the Long Canyon, Phoenix, Carlin, and Turquoise that didn't quite – Keep pace with the rest of the answers, but thanks for your explanation.

If you're worried about Long Canyon, remember we've stalled Long Canyon as we recut our permitting. And so that's looking for the second phase expansion of the life of mine, and that would also impact our reserves. At the moment, we don't have a permit, so it's not coming into the reserve port part of Long Canyon.

Okay. And then my second and final question, I guess, is a long one. But you've talked about industry consolidation in the gold space, and I just wanted to understand what exactly it is that catches your eye so much with the assets that are out there, and if you could give us some parameters on what exactly you're looking for and how that competes with your internal projects.

Okay, so I guess the best way is to wind back everything to 2017, early 2018. And you and your portfolio of companies you're covering, a lot of them were very stressed. And then suddenly everything is utopic with a higher gold price. That doesn't change the long-term... profitability of our industry. And then we've got a couple of single asset companies that have struggled to deliver against their feasibility study, but being kept alive by a higher gold price. And, you know, our industry is right now in a place where it's not worried about its future. And I point this to both the fund managers who are keeping, you know, demanding cash returns, not worrying about how you package, use this higher gold price to package, repackage our industry, which is required to create a relevant industry as, you know, allocation of capital becomes more sort of larger and more, you know, clumsy going forward because the funds are just getting bigger and bigger and they need the dial to be moved more. And at the same time, we've got management teams that are just hanging on to this opportunity using the COVID and the higher gold price to prevent the conversation around consolidation. But it's not going to be like that forever. You know, we've seen the market respond on a softening gold price, albeit that it's way above the sort of average. And that's why it's important for Barrick to have the strength, financial and management bench strength, to be able to force some of these opportunities. On the criteria, we've been very clear. You know, we look at two categories of opportunities, Tier 1, which is plus 500,000 ounces at the bottom half of the cost curve or within the bottom half of the cost curve, and Tier 2, which is sort of above 250,000 ounces at the bottom half of the cost curve and both having at least 10-year life of mine potential. So, you know, and in times like this, as I touched on in my presentation, is, you know, motto acquisition we made in 2009 in the middle of the crisis, very solid, well-structured bull market in the gold prices. And we did that acquisition. It was a world-class acquisition. We read it right and it has delivered an enormous value to our business. And so, you know, the key here is not to buy. And it's a conversation that should be had because just sucking money out of the gold industry doesn't do anyone any favors. This industry is you know, was very precarious in 2017, early 2018. It hasn't changed. It's just you can't see it because of the higher margins. And so, you know, I think it's important that we – and that's why I keep bashing that drum. or beating that drum in that I think, you know, we need to do it. And notwithstanding that, as you've seen, Barrick has really invested in its organic opportunities, both brown and green fields, and will continue to do that as well.

Okay. Thank you. Just wanted to close out by congratulating you on your cost control. That's pretty good results considering the past year and the year going forward. Thank you.

Thank you and appreciate that coming from you.

Our next question comes from Matthew Murphy of Barclays. Please go ahead.

Hi there. Just wondering if you're still expecting to formalize a dividend payout policy this year. I thought it might have come with this quarter. Is it something you're looking to do earlier this year?

Yeah, I think it's important. I did touch on this in another answer. You know, a lot of debate at the board and amongst our executive team on how we manage this. You know, again, if you wind back to 2008, 9 and 10, you know, the way we manage that return of capital to shareholders and our dividend strategy, you know, very similar this time around. We have no visibility of how the short to medium term economy or our market looks like. And I think, you know, we definitely, I mean, we realize non-core assets, we believe it's important to return, makes logical sense to return that part of that to our shareholders, which I've always done my whole career. We've used the cash generated by our business to bring down our net debt and cover ourselves so that we are completely independent of the capital markets and are able to run our business without interference. So that's done, and I'm very happy with that. We will continue to bull the cash portion of our balance sheet through this year if the gold price stays above $1,700. and so and we believe that you know this whole unprecedented scenario is unclear and extremely dynamic and I'm pretty confident to be able to bet you that the current analyst outlook on what it's going to look like in 12 months time is all wrong and so Our board and in debate with our management team have landed on the fact that it's better to return this. It's a significant return. Added to our nonsense, a quarter delivers about a 3.6% yield. Current share prices are actually a bit higher than today. And then we'll reassess things next year where I'm sure things will be a lot clearer

Okay, thank you.

There are no more questions from the conference call. This concludes today's conference.

Sorry, thank you. I'd just like to say to everyone, thank you very much for making the time today. I'm very pleased that we got through this presentation. A lot of people put enormous amount of effort into the communications and everyone was really concerned that we might break our communication through this process. So thanks to everyone that put effort in. And again, thank you for making the time to join us and we'll speak to you soon.

This concludes today's conference call. Should you have additional questions, please contact the Barrick Investor Relations Department. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.