Barrick Mining Corporation

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. This is the event operator. Welcome to BEREC's results presentation for the first quarter of 2025. Following today's presentation, a question and answer session will be conducted. If you have a question and are joining the event by telephone, please press the star then 1 on your telephone keypad. You will be taking questions from the room first. As a reminder, this event is being recorded and a replay will be available on BEREC's website later today, May the 7th, 2025. I would now like to turn you over to Mark Bristow, President and CEO of BEREC. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you very much and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and particularly the folks that have made an effort to get here this morning. Thank you for joining us today. There's a lot happening as you are well aware in the world right now. Volatility, instability and shifting global priorities. Our philosophy at Barrick has never been to manage our business for the short term. While we are always ready to take advantage of high gold prices, we remain focused on building a business that can deliver sustainable profitability over the long term, through the cycles, through challenges, and through change. Just over six years ago, we set out to reposition and rebuild Barrick as the world's most valued gold and copper mining company, one that creates real long-term value, not just for investors, but for every stakeholder we work with. This past quarter was another busy one as we continued on that journey. You'll see today how we've progressed across every part of the business, from operations and growth to sustainability and exploration. As part of this journey, we've also taken the step to change our name to Barrick Mining Corporation and our ticker on the New York Stock Exchange to the single letter B. It's a symbolic but important shift that reflects our strategic focus on a portfolio of long-life gold assets supported by a growing copper business. Before we begin, as usual, I'd like to draw your attention. to the customary cautionary statement regarding forward-looking information. You can find the full details on our website, which you can review at your leisure, if you so wish. Moving now to the group highlights, I'm pleased to show you another positive set of results, with all the arrows once again pointing in the right direction. Production was up at the top of the guidance, and we continue to forecast improvements throughout the year. We have maintained the dividend at 10 cents per share, reduced debt, and continued with our share buyback program. We've also announced the $1 billion sale of Donlon, the first step in rationalizing our portfolio to focus squarely on our Tier 1 assets. And across the business, our growth projects continue to gain momentum, with Pablo Viejo ramping up, Formar moving to pre-feasibility, Lamona and Ricodec moving to construction, and a new discovery already within the Ricodec mining lease. Turning to our operational results during the quarter, We completed significant projects at Pueblo Viejo, Nevada Gold Mines, and La Mina, positioning us well for the rest of the year and beyond. Copper had a great quarter, and we remain on track to meet our full-year production targets for both gold and copper. Looking at the financial results, by all measures, this was a solid quarter, reflecting the strength and resilience of the business we have built. On a year-on-year basis, despite the temporary shutdown of Lilo Goncoto and the previously mentioned maintenance work, we delivered significant growth in operating cash flow, free cash flow, and earnings, all supported by a higher gold price, of course. I'll point you to our realised gold price in quarter one, which already looks conservative given where the spot price is today. Capital is tracking in line with our plans, with growth capital expected to increase over the year as our two major construction projects ramp up their activity. Sustainability, as I'm sure you're all aware by now, remains the cornerstone of how we operate. It's not separate from our business. It is our business. Mining must leave at least a lasting, positive impact. And that's what we strive for across every one of our sites. This quarter, we made strong progress on our journey to zero. with a big focus on managing by walking about. We completed over 31,000 critical control verifications across the group, reinforcing leadership visibility and real-time risk management. We recorded improvements in the lost time injury frequency rate and total recordable injury frequency rate. no Class 1 or 2 environmental incidents, and very importantly, our Class 3 events were down materially. Our water use efficiency remains above 80%, keeping us at the forefront of the industry. At Ricodec, we secured environmental permits, and both the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation have publicly disclosed their intended participation in Ricodec financing. At PV, the first families have moved into new homes under our resettlement program, which is guided by the IFC Performance Standard 5. We've also rolled out our social metric tracker aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals to track real impact at the site level. So, moving to North America and our operations there, this remains Barrick's value foundation and continues to perform steadily. We've taken clear steps this quarter to sharpen our portfolio. As I indicated already, Donlan sale is an important move aligned with our strategy to focus on Tier 1 assets. In line with that, we have also launched a process to test the market for Hemlo. Let me be clear to everyone here today, particularly, this is no bearing on our commitment to Canada. On the contrary, we've launched a significant drill program in the southern Abitibi, which I will discuss later. We are also exploring in the U.S., in Nevada, both within the joint venture and on barrack ground, as well as in Arizona, Idaho, and Montana. These programs target both gold and copper and form a core part of our organic growth strategy, as again, I will touch on a little later. And in line with our investment in people, we've now rolled out the Barrick Academy at Nevada Gold Mines, giving frontline leaders the tools to drive performance, improve safety, and build operational excellence. Turning to Nevada gold mines specifically, we had a solid quarter, although production was lower on the back of planned roaster maintenance at Carlin. Importantly, we are starting to see real efficiency gains from the new Komatsu open pit fleet and organizational optimization, which is already driving mining unit costs back down to levels we haven't seen since 2022. At Cortez, production was lower quarter-on-quarter due to fewer high-grade underground tons and lower-grade open pit ore stacked on the leach pads. At Turquoise Ridge, throughput increased quarter-on-quarter at the Sage autoclave, though lower grades offset the volume gains. Still, recovery performance was strong, helping support overall results. During April, we also completed the planned gold quarry roaster shutdown, so with the major maintenance behind us in Nevada gold mines, we're well set for an improved quarter two and a better second half. Moving to Four Mile, this is one of the most exciting projects, as I've mentioned before, in our portfolio. We currently have 16 rigs turning with drill holes averaging over a kilometer in depth. As we've already disclosed, grades at four mile are more than double those at Gold Rush. And early geotechnical data points to more competent rock strength, which can potentially support larger scale stoping than that of our other Nevada operations. Combined with its proximity to existing infrastructure, this makes Four Mile a clear standout. We've now advanced the project into feasibility study with a focus on defining the full resource footprint and evaluating the geometallurgy of the ore body and access options, all of which are critical for future development. We've already submitted the plan of operations for the potential portal disturbance and commenced with baseline studies for permitting, so this work is well underway. When you consider the potential size and quality of the ore bodies located in a jurisdiction with multiple Tier 1 assets, it's clear that 4 Mile has the potential to deliver unparalleled value for Barrick and Nevada. It also explains why we chose to divest Donlan, an asset that was not in a position to compete with 4 Mile for capital in our portfolio. Canada, as I said earlier, remains a core destination for us, and we're fully committed to growing our presence here. As you can imagine, it's a highly competitive environment, especially with the recent uplift in gold prices. But we're focused on building a high-quality portfolio of targets that can support long-term value. We've just recently kicked off a drilling project at Norris, making a significant step in rebuilding our exploration pipeline in the region and continue to progress and evaluate other project opportunities. We're also busy with the permitting for the next drill phase at the Sturgeon Lake project. Shifting to Latin America and Asia Pacific, we've seen stellar performance across the board this quarter. Our signature growth project, Pabla Vero, made solid progress. Ricadec, as I mentioned earlier, has officially moved into construction phase and is already showing an exciting early indicator of upside that comes with Tier 1 assets. Valadero delivered a standout performance yet again and development of Phase 8A of the leach pad is on track and the mine is set up for another strong year. At Pogra, the ramp-up continues and the operation commenced dividend payments this quarter. moving specifically to Pueblo Viejo. This is a long-life operation with a planned mine life of over 20 years. And once the ramp-up is complete, we're targeting production of more than 800,000 ounces a year. The plant was down for 35 days during the past quarter as we completed a series of upgrades. These included improvements to the flash recycle system, deslime pump upgrades and a complete overhaul of the thickener centre well. As expected, gold production was lower quarter on quarter, but we saw improved throughput in April. And the team continues to make good progress under our Go for Gold plan. We are on track to meet guidance this year, and our target is to produce more than 800,000 ounces in 2026. This slide shows the key components of our expansion and ramp-up program at Pueblo Viejo, and as you can see, we're on track, and all major projects for the quarter were completed as planned. We remain confident that this expansion will unlock the full long-term potential of this asset. As part of the Pueblo Viejo expansion, we're developing the El Naranjo tailing storage facility, which requires the relocation of nearby communities. As already mentioned, we are following IFC Performance Standard 5 to guide this process and we're committed to ensuring that people are better off as a result of the relocation. The first 18 families have already moved into their new homes and we're relocating more families every week. The new community, which we call New Horizons in Spanish, is a fully self-contained development that includes housing, schools, recreational facilities, potable water, electricity, roads and space for vegetable gardens and farming. To date, 220 houses have been complete, with a total of over 550 to be finished by the end of the year as the development continues on schedule. And at Ricker Deck, this project is really taking shape now. You can see on the top right of the slide a model of what the project will look like. And it's all systems go. We've begun mobilizing the first heavy equipment, and we've appointed Fleur as our lead engineering, procurement, and construction management partner, working alongside the internal owners team and other partners. This is a world-class copper-gold project that will deliver enormous value, not just for Barrick, but equally for our partners in Pakistan and particularly in Balochistan. It's one of the largest undeveloped porphyry copper-gold systems in the world, and it's not yet reflected in our share price. While the total phase one and two investment is expected to be around $10 billion, our share of the total equity contribution is estimated between 1.4 and 1.7 billion for phase one, excluding capitalized financing costs. At this stage, everything indicates that we'll be able to fund phase two through the project itself. It's important to understand that this is very much in line with how we've approached our early stage investments in countries like originally Mali, way back in the 1990s, and the DRC more recently. Disciplined, not betting the farm, phased, and with strong partnerships forged ahead of construction. On the last point, we have invested roughly $230 million to date with our partners in Pakistan, participating equally alongside us, as disclosed in our financials for everyone tracking this progress. feasibility study has defined a 37-year reserve life, and it's important to understand this is a reserve life rather than a life of mine estimate. And the real story is the potential to go well beyond that out to the end of the century. And this slide shows that even before we've started production, we are already adding life and value. One of the first new discoveries within the mining lease is just four kilometers north of the western porphyries, which is the main ore body that we've got in our life of mine reserve plan. It's called Bouquet Passer, and it's a clear indication of the quality and prospectivity of this region. The first few holes are delivering thick intervals of mineralization from surface, and the numbers speak for themselves. In our Africa and Middle East region that has been a major value contributor to BEREC over the past two decades, we're seeing some challenges in the broader environment. Africa remains, however, a highly prospective and a good destination to add value to our portfolio. It's one of the few regions in the world where we consistently replace what we mine, and we expect the trend to continue this year. Operations at Lulo Goncoto remain suspended, but as disclosed in our previous press releases, we continue our engagement with the transitional government and are working hard to overcome these challenges and achieve a long-term solution that puts an end to the current impasse. This has been a cornerstone asset for the country, and we are committed to finding a constructive way forward. On the copper side, Lemwana has now officially transitioned into the construction phase of its expansion project, and Jabal Saeed delivered a strong quarter, maintaining its momentum. At Kabali, Production was lower this quarter, mainly due to lower oil grades from underground, as scheduled in the mine plan. We expect throughput to improve over the course of the year, with a stronger second half in line with our guidance. We also have advanced work on the solar power installation, which again will reduce energy costs and further support our sustainability goals. Importantly, Kabali has a track record of replacing the reserves at mines, and this year is no different. Also worth noting, Kabali is trialling a fleet of EV trucks for re-handling material on the ROM pad. This slide zooms in on the ARK KCD corridor, and it's worth emphasizing just how important this work is to the future of Kibale. The team has made great progress, not only extending the main KCD all-body down plunge, but also on the adjacent ARK target, which is a significant brownfields growth opportunity. We're seeing high-grade intercepts with encouraging continuity, and this work is starting to build a coherent geological model across the corridor. The key question we are now testing is whether ARK and KCD connect. If that's the case, it could represent a material extension of the mineralized system and unlock meaningful new answers from within the existing footprint. In Tanzania, both North Mara and Bolian Hulu had solid quarters, delivering in line of plan. There was some commissioning activity and lower grades at North Mara as scheduled in the mining sequence, but recoveries and efficiencies remain strong and both sites are on track to meet full-year guidance. Since 2020, we have built trust, stabilised the operations and restored Barrick's reputation as a long-term partner in the country. It's a powerful example of how responsible mining, done right, can rebuild a business and create lasting value for all stakeholders. Turning to Lemwana and Zambia, Q1 production reflected a planned mill reline and lower grades as noted in our guidance. We expect performance to improve in Q2 and strengthen further in the second half as these temporary factors roll off. The super project will double production and is expected to come online in 2028. One of the key focus areas is power infrastructure, as you can imagine. And we're actively working to ensure we can manage this challenge as the expansion ramps up. The scale and value of Lemoyne, and the expansion in particular, are still not, like Rickerdick, reflected in our share price. And we believe this project will be a major value driver for the group in the years ahead. Africa and the Middle East continues to be one of our most prospective regions, and this slide highlights the breadth of our exploration footprint across the continent. We've consistently delivered value here through exploration, development, and partnerships, and we're well positioned to do so again. We're actively exploring across the Central African Copper Belt, including new permit areas in Zambia and the DRC, as well as advancing greenfield work in Tanzania, Senegal, and through our joint venture with Marden in Saudi Arabia. I have always said that the foundation of a real mining company lies in its reserve base. And this slide brings that into sharp focus. On the left, you can see the growth in our gold reserves per share since the merger. And on the right, the gold equivalent reserve base again per share, which now includes a material increase in copper and reflects the strength of our broader resource portfolio. We're proud that Barrick continues to lead the industry in replacing and growing reserves through the drill bit and not through overpriced M&A. Since the merger, we've added 111 million gold equivalent ounces of reserves at a cost of just $10 per gold equivalent ounce. compared to M&A deals in the sector averaging over $440 per ounce, and in some cases more than double that. It's a disciplined strategy that underpins our growth plans and reinforces the long-term value of our business. So ladies and gentlemen, as we wrap up, it's worth highlighting something that really sets Barrick apart in the mining industry. Its ability to present a long-term rolling business plan. This isn't common in our sector. Most companies can only talk in one to three year snapshots. But at Barrick, we give our shareholders a clear roadmap. A long-term view of how we intend to deliver production, profitability and growth. The visibility gives us confidence because it allows us to plan, prioritize, and manage our portfolio in a disciplined way. We're also shown that over time, our ability to replace the gold and copper we mine while finding more keeps changing that forward profile for the better. We are driven by a strategy that invests in the future. And as you can see here, there's significant organic growth built into the portfolio through to the end of the decade. And as we've shown in our 10-year plan, more beyond that. Look at what we already have. Nevada gold mines, Pablo Viejo, the tier one assets in Africa, all with tangible brownfields upside. Add to that Four Mile, the Lemoine expansion, and the Ricker Dick growth project, plus the new project pipeline our exploration team is pursuing, and you begin to see just how much potential is still ahead of us. This is a high-quality portfolio built by a high-quality team, operating in some of the world's most prospective regions. So Barrick is, as it stands, a standout performer in our industry. It isn't just the quality of our assets or the strength of our pipeline. It's the way we build this company on a strategy grounded in long life tier one assets. supported by a growing copper portfolio, exceptional growth assets that don't require new debt or share dilution, a disciplined balance sheet, continuous reserve replacement, and a global exploration engine that's active in every major mineral belt. It's also about our people. We've invested in our leaders, our teams and our culture. And that's why we are able to operate in the world's most prospective but sometimes more challenging jurisdictions. And do so successfully, I might add, and sustainably. We're delivering returns today whilst also building this business for the long term. and we're focused on delivering value for all our stakeholders, not just in ounces or earnings, but in jobs, in partnerships and in opportunity. And importantly, we've done all this without issuing new equity. On the contrary, We continue to buy back our shares while investing in growth and strengthening the balance sheet. That's the Barrick difference, and that's why we believe the best is yet to come. Thank you all for listening, and we'll be happy to take questions. And I think, Claudia, we're going to take from here first? Okay.

Thanks, Mark. This is Ralph Profiti from Stifel. Thanks for taking my questions. First one, you had talked about one of the rationales for the sale of Donlin being competing for capital against Formal. I'm wondering if there's a read-through on the valuation and how it pertains to Formal, because there is a valuation and a market valuation anchor to how you're going to bring Formal into Nevada gold mines. And I'm wondering if there's a correlation between the two on valuation.

No, I think there's no correlation between the two. I think Donland is way out of the money. And when you look at our development plans, it was way back at the back end of our development planning. And so it makes sense to realize that asset and focus on the assets that meet our Tier 1 definitions. And that's really the driver. And we saw the value of Donlan in the market is well set by the Novigold at the stage of the deal, the Novigold market cap. That was as close as we could get to a market-related value. And we were comfortable with that. And clearly, so was Nova Gold. Understood.

Thank you. And then you did a presentation slide on Kabali, and having some of the more new geology point you to more complex geological structures. And I'm just wondering how you're now thinking about perhaps changes to the processing side in order to bring that long-term potential into the fold.

You know, Kabali has got a really good flow sheet. It's got, first of all, the normal standard gold crushing, milling, but then it's got flotation and it's got ultra fine ground. So, you know, short of any... Roasters or autoclaves, which we don't need in that mine, it's got everything. So we don't see any change in the metallurgy of the new deposits. What's interesting is the ARK... So KCD is the first major ore body that we started in open pits, and it's now being mined down dip. It's a plunging series of cigar-shaped ore bodies, and the reason they're in cigars is because it's tightly folded, so the mineralization picks out the hinges and the folds. And the ARK is starting to look exactly like that, just subparallel. So no difference. It's associated with banded iron formations that are tightly folded, but the system is, and we're starting to see significant continuity and some particularly high grades because that 3,000 lobe, 5,000 lobe of KCD is what made Kabali. So it's a completely new target, but right next door. And the question is, is it part of the same tectonic or structural event as well as a mineralization event, or is it separate? We think it's the former. But it's very different to the other satellite deposits that we've mined in Kibale. And we've still got more, and that's further away from the processing plant and the main mine. So it's complicated geologically, and Kabbalah has always been a challenging geological setting, but we've continued, as you know, we've got double the reserves that we defined in the first feasibility study, still, and we've mined for a long time already.

Good morning, Brian McArthur, Raymond James. One of the things you highlighted in the report was how you're getting value at tailings with sulfur to be used in Nevada. And obviously there's a huge benefit for sustainability. But can you just talk about the economics and how that helps the roasters in Nevada and just how much it might actually be worth if you're willing to put a number on that?

So the value is significant. We've got two projects like this. It's Golden Sunlight, which is a closure site in Montana, and we're busy ramping that up. It's had a few challenges in getting it fully ramped up, but it's... It's a rehabilitation project, essentially, taking away the requirement for continuous water treatment and at the same time delivering a very valuable product in the form of sulfide concentrate, which is a fuel for our autoclaves and our roasters. So with that knowledge, the team in Nevada out of Phoenix looked at our tailings, again, full of sulfide, and did the feasibility study, and we built a concentrator in Phoenix. And that's going to produce more than golden sunlight. Not enough to cover all the requirements, but still very significant. And pool sulfur is very expensive. So, you know, again, we get rid of an environmental challenge, and we deliver low-cost fuel for our roasters and autoclaves. I mean, Henri, have you got a view of the benefit? Maybe a cost of the pearl relative to your production costs or something.

The cost of the pearl is variable, but right now we pay about $300 a ton for a ton of sulfur, and we're producing the sulfur concentrate at Phoenix delivered to the roasters for under $70 a ton.

So there's the numbers.

Sorry, can I just follow up and ask, it begs the question, are there other tailings around at other sites in Nevada that you can do this with to add value over time? I get it, Phoenix is at a different stage than some of the others, but I'm just curious.

No, I think there's, I mean, one of the things, just to twist your question a little bit further, is what we are looking at is Nevada is multiple different ore bodies and big tailings facilities. And so what we are doing is the geological project of looking at what other metals are in those tailings, particularly rare earths and, you know, some of the more critical metals minor elements that you don't find geologically on their own. So that is something, and certainly we're very comfortable in being able to reprocess our tanning dams. If you remember Marilla... We mined that super high ore body. At the end of the mine, we remined the tailings dam and continued to make money all the way until we had no more anything left in the tailings dam. So we've done that before, and we constantly look at opportunities to realize that. Our big challenge in the mining industry at large is we need to worry more about how we deposit our tailings and in what form. Because historically, the mining industry has created large liabilities because of continuous water treatment requirements. And the same goes for copper facilities as well. We are very aware of that, and our closure team is very focused on where we can exploit those hidden gems inside the tailings dam. We will take them out.

Thank you.

Is that it? So let's move to the call now.

Certainly. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You'll hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Our first question is from Josh Wolfson with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Thanks. There's a lot of interesting headlines creating some conversations today, and I just want to sort of clarify what the company's views are on some items. The first question I had was, I think, Mark, you made some comments about gold-related M&A here at the top of the cycle being a risk. I just wanted to sort of maybe pivot on the other side. On the copper side for M&A, would you see there being any cyclical advantage to looking at opportunities today, given where gold prices are relative to copper? Thanks.

Yeah, Josh, that's a very good question. So... The challenge we have in copper, the opportunity that's driving very much like 2011 is this perception that the gold price is just going to keep going up. I think from my point of view, there's definitely a base developing in the gold industry because, one, there's a demand. You can't see any short-term fixes in the global economy. So there's a lot of reason, and de-dollarization has become a reality. At the same time, we have just recently started to see a higher volatility in the gold price, and you would expect that for a while. And whether it stabilizes and sets a new base there or it builds a foundation and continues to grow, that's the gazillion-dollar question. But I think the drivers in the market are very much entrenched and superficially the geopolitical dynamics across the globe are accentuating that. But there's a fundamental concern around indebtedness across the entire global economy. On the copper side, it's slightly different in that, and so, sorry, just to finish on gold. So rising gold prices make ore bodies look more profitable or viable. At the same time, people forget about costs and cost inflation and ultimately running out of reserves. And that's where our industry is today, is that we've got very little inventory left ahead of us. We are constantly buying assets that just a year and a half ago weren't viable and paying a premium for them. On the copper side, the challenge in copper has been that the inventory sitting in, particularly the large copper miners as well as the diversified miners, are limited. of such a nature that they're not viable, certainly haven't been viable at the $4.20, $4.50 a pound copper price. And so you've got this inventory, but you've got no investment in capital. And in fact, what you've seen is the copper industry investing in brownfields extensions, you know, accepting higher operating costs because they can bring that copper production in quickly and at lower capital or what people talk about today as lower capital intensity. In other words, thousands of dollars per producing ton or produced ton. The challenge is that, again, we haven't been exploring, and so the supply side of that inventory is not forthcoming, and so you need a higher copper price to really unlock it. And you need a copper price that goes high enough for the industry to be comfortable it will stay there, because building a copper mine takes time. That's what makes... Lemoyne and Rickerdick's such a standout set of assets because it makes real returns at $3 copper. And it can comfortably carry the capital requirements to do so. And Lemoyne particularly has got a cash flow adjacent to the extra, the second stream that we're building. What's interesting, unlike gold, is that recently, despite the global economic outlook, which is very fuzzy at the moment, the copper price has shown some strength. That's interesting because we've all recognized, all of us, particularly you analysts, have recognized that there's a tightening coming in the supply side. And so to see this move in copper against a softening, unsure global economy is very interesting for us. And when we made the decision and took our capital plans to our board and shared it with our colleagues in Pakistan, We pointed to the fact that this is the best time to build copper mines if they are viable at the sort of lower copper prices because you bring the production in at a time when demand picks up. And, Josh, this is probably a little bit before your time, but... You know, that's how we built Rand Gold, is we took that big bet when gold was $260 an ounce, and we really focused on every viable asset at that sort of gold price or above. We actually used $450. And we were able to build three new mines and capture that big spark in 2011. And we took debt on. which is what we're doing now, and we're able to pay it back on the spike. When everyone else was running around doing M&A, we were paying our debt back. And it's pretty much what we've been doing in the last couple of years is really keeping a close eye on our balance sheet and looking at ways to actually leverage our per share value through investments, cash investments rather than premium equity deals. So that would be my answer to that question.

Thank you. The other sort of bigger headline today, and I'm never sure if journalists and perhaps analysts in some situations are taking liberty, but there was an article talking about a board formalized process to find a successor. I understand you're committed to stay until 2028. And I guess I just want to understand, you know, why would the board be preparing for this three or four years in advance and any sort of commentary on the succession planning? Thanks.

So the board, the succession process is always board oversight. So to your point, you know, everyone is desperate for a story. As you know, Rangold was very big on succession. It was a process that we worked with the board to manage. And again, you know... Big succession plans need real consideration, and we've been talking about, you've been asking about this for a long time, and I've been talking about it for a long time. So, you know, if we, and we've always, I've always been very clear about succession and the importance of it, so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, because all of you know me, know our philosophy, and we look at, we look at, We reflect on risk, and one of the risks is leadership, and we look at sort of an uncontrolled event and a normal managed transition. And that's why we were able to pick up a very challenging business in the form of Barrick from Rangold back in 2019 and be able to spread out and catch most of the issues immediately because we had that deeper succession process. plan already entrenched. Our succession works on a 12-month rolling program. It's deep into the organization. As an executive group, we have got to know the top 300 potential high-flyers in our organization across all three regions. We have that conversation with the board, and we have an executive development program as an integral part of that succession program, so the board is involved. And let me tell you something, Josh, three years is not a long time, not in a business like Barrick.

Thank you. Yeah, if I can ask just one more question on the operations side. Are there any kind of insights you can provide in terms of how PV is performing post first quarter results and some of the action plans that were taken then? Thank you.

Yeah, so as you know, the big step was A couple of things, but the very big step, the big downtime was the change out of the inner well of the settler. And that's a big project. At the same time, we upgraded the... the pressure cooling in the autoclaves, and we upgraded some of the big pumps. But it's really about the settler and being able to really pick up on the throughput. When we expanded, we have a sag ball combination in the first phase, and the expansion we put in was just a really big... And we weren't clear about how we would, whether we needed more settling capacity when we installed it. Very clearly we did, so we had to retrofit it. It was an option. And so we've done that. And so the throughput has now stepped up. That graph that I've showed you, that's on track. We haven't changed anything. April was a good month on throughput. It's a range as we settle down these throughput numbers, but we're definitely on average up there at the target for that bar. And we've... We're already achieving in short runs the quarter two bar. So, again, we're comfortable that that installation is going to deliver what we planned, and that's what we're going to track and share with you as we go. And the big focus now this quarter is stabilize that throughput and with it the recovery. because we expect another 1% improvement in recovery by the time we get to the end of this quarter, and then we'll keep that recovery in quarter three, and we'll have another step up in throughput, and then we should see the next step in recovery again, and you'll recall a couple of quarters ago we took you through, that recovery will continue to step up out for the next six months, quarters, but it's really the throughput that drives their production, the first step up in production, which is what we focused on now.

The next question is from Dan Major with UBS. Please go ahead.

Hi, Mark. How are you all? Yeah, first question, just on Mali. I see you consumed around $80 million of cash this quarter, like negative 64 EBITDA and 14 million of capex. As far as I'm aware, it's not been placed on care maintenance while the negotiations continue. How long are you willing to keep in this And can you give us a reminder on what the care and maintenance cost would be if you moved to a full care and maintenance scenario?

So at the moment, we haven't moved to a full care and maintenance scenario. We don't intend to. I mean, you'd have to be forced to do that. I think that, and right now we have been, you know, these are two independent companies located in Mali, so we've been utilising their facilities, in-country facilities to support their continued work and they are, you know, in a mine like this, things, as we go into like the rainy season now, we're going to have to manage that and we want to keep all the infrastructure operating and the underground mines properly dewatered. So that's what we've been doing at this stage. Graham, I don't know if you want to comment on the holding costs if we actually close and go on to care and maintenance.

Yeah, so... The current sort of run rate, Dan, is around $15 million a month. But as Mark points to, you know, we still have all of our staff on the payroll. We have relocated some of our expatriate staff elsewhere. If we were to go to, let's call it a full care and maintenance scenario where we were literally just doing skeleton maintenance, you could expect to halve that number.

Okay, so less than $10 million a month. Okay. That's clear. Thanks. Thanks, Grant. And then, yeah, next question, just on the portfolio, and I think, you know, some positive moves in looking to divest some of the non-core assets, Donlin, and I see the press commentary around Hemlo. Any other comments you can make on Zaldivar? I know that's one that you've highlighted before. Is this process of considering the non-core assets sharpened the focus on that asset?

So Zeldabar, we're busy with the renewal of the mining licence and we're making good progress on that and that's really the most important focus for that team, both on the Antofagasta side and our people who are involved in that process. So that's our focus at the moment for Zeldabar. I mean, really, Tongan is one. Himlo, as you know, on Himlo... In 2019, it was already for sale. And what we did is we pulled it back because it really didn't have a plan. And today, what we've done is we had three years of investment into the mine. The last two years, we've had a step up in cash flow from the operation. We've completed the first... run at the open pit expansion. We've got more work to do. We're drilling at the moment in the underground to be able to work to match the underground reserves with the open pit production profile. And that will take, you know, it's already got a life of mine that's 10 years. It's got prospectivity. We have a built additional footprint in the operation and prospectivity. It's a low production mine relative to our tier one mine. sort of hurdle. But it's a good operation. It's always had prospectivity. It's one of those assets that if you work hard at it, it continues to deliver. We think it will continue for a while. But it's at a stage where we can defend its viability and it will be an attractive asset for a mid-size mining company. So And that's the basis on... But it's not... Ready is not for Barak. And again, you ought to recall... that in 2019, when we did the transaction, we immediately, once we got everything visible, is we cleaned up the portfolio, sold KCGM, sold Laguna Snorte, sold Masawa in West Africa, and we tied up and distributed that capital gain, which everyone always forgets, but it was a real return to shareholders. And now that we've got real growth, we're looking at a 30% gold equivalent growth out to the end of the decade. What happens is, and when you clip off the non-core, very quickly you see how you steepen up that growth curve. You certainly allow management to focus on the quality assets. It hasn't got fundamental, it's not a drain on the overall value of the company. In fact, it enhances the value. And so it's a good time to do that. And I've always spoken on that basis, that we... Non-core assets are well defined in Barrick as our tier one assets and we're excited about the next phase in Barrick because it really does bring real growth. And again, not too dissimilar to the Rangold situation which I referred to in the 2009 to 2013 when we built out Lulo, Tongan and Kabali together. We ran up quite a lot of debt. And then we really delivered that production into a rising gold price. And we funded it all with debt and internal proceeds. We didn't issue any equity in the construction. We issued a bit of equity. if you'll recall, in the acquisition of Motta. But it really added real value per share to the portfolio. And we've started today to give you that look. So the precursor to delivering value per share is to actually have the reserves per share starting to trend in the right direction. And so you can track that performance going forward.

Great, thanks. Maybe I could just put one more in there on the portfolio and perhaps a bigger picture question. But when I look at asset values across the sector, there's been a widening gap between higher jurisdictional risk and lower jurisdictional risk regions. And you've previously shown the kind of discounted multiple of, for example, the Nevada assets within the Barrick portfolio. I mean, internally, is there any discussion about separating the higher and lower jurisdictional risk assets to realize what appears to be a trend amongst investors of willing to pay more for lower risk assets? Is that an internal discussion at all?

Let me, definitely not. So let me just correct you. That's your, this is the echo chamber that's developed in the market. But what's driving the valuation in these so-called lower jurisdictions is harvesting. If you look at the assets that have really delivered big growth in equity is short-term delivery of strong cash flows, and no one in the analyst fraternity looks at life of mine. You just look at the next quarter or the next year, and there's a lot of harvesting, a lot of dividend flow, and that's what the fund managers have been paying for. And again, if you look through back... over the last two decades, the real value comes with long-term delivery. And, you know, I mean, already when you look at Barrick's yield, it's at the top end of yield. And that's not because we're paying big dividends, it's because of the equity costs. So when you buy that equity, if you have a long-term view, you get real returns and you can look at the long-term life of mine. If you do a simple cash flow model, you get a steepening free cash flow very quickly. and we're replacing all the time. So, again, when you're not replacing reserves, your sustaining capital comes off very quickly, and it looks good. But then you come and most of us in this, I mean, some of you have been around less than I have, but most of us have been long enough to have experienced what happens when you come off on the production because you haven't got any alternate. And you can buy for so long, but that also runs out. And so I would argue very differently. It's landing as safe jurisdictions, but it's actually harvesting M&A transactions. And I would, you know, and again, and, you know, it's worth understanding that if you don't know, I'm a big shareholder. And I support this longer-term strategy because ultimately that's what makes real money as an investor. And certainly our big value investors understand the same story. And again, it makes no sense... When you look at, you know, it was the African assets that really allowed us to fix all the neglect in Nevada and deliver Nevada as we see it today. And it's worth looking at the profile of of Nevada when we put the two assets together, just the simple profile. You'll recall we showed you that. And then look at the life of mine profile today. And that comes because of the broad global spread of assets. And you'll recall that we've been through some challenging times in Nevada on jurisdiction as well and royalties and things that are no different to some of the challenges we have elsewhere in the world. So I've always said if you want to be world class, you need to be global. And by the way, you've seen this. You've seen... Just in the short history, you've seen Rio go into Mongolia. You've seen Rio go into Guinea, actively into Guinea after a coup. You've seen Newmont buy into Papua New Guinea. both growing concerns and development projects. And you've seen everyone focusing in on Central African Republic because that's where the big copper and other critical minerals sit. So I think we get hung up sometimes on or confused about short-term harvesting and jurisdiction.

Great. Thanks very much.

Okay. The next question is from us. I'm Winder with Bank of America Securities. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Hi, Mark. Good morning to you and the team. Hello. Good afternoon now. Okay, so just maybe a couple of questions, and maybe I'll put – I'll put the two asset ones up front just to maybe be mindful of time, but you talk about long-term value and the investments you've made in Nevada, and I think they're very commendable. One asset that really hasn't been emphasized to a large degree, particularly on the copper side, is Phoenix. And there's a pretty significant copper portfolio or copper byproduct there. And when you think about that asset, is there some upside that the market's not thinking about with Phoenix? And, you know, in particular, with the U.S. taking a look at some of these more strategic assets that have copper, things like the FAST-41 list. So that'd be one. And then second would just be on the gold strike roaster. How many days were actually lost to the planned maintenance? to the planned maintenance at the Gold Strike Roaster in Q1, and are there any other major planned roaster or autoclave maintenance this year in 2025?

Yeah, okay, so, you know, Phoenix, just to answer that, it's now very much our focus is understanding the full potential of Phoenix because, remember, Phoenix has always been run as a goldmine taking the copper credits. But there's definitely potential at Phoenix, a porphyry potential. We have defined targets within Phoenix that we're currently evaluating. It's relatively early days. But Phoenix is a different business today than it was back in 2019. And in the fullness of time, ultimately, it is a real resource. We haven't really pushed the envelope on conversion yet because we're really understanding the geology. But to your point, good observation, Lawson. On the shutdown, I will give you a broad – give – Henry's in the audience here, and he can help with the detail. But really, there were two big shuts back-to-back. the Gold Strike roaster, and then followed in April with the Gold Quarry roaster, and that sets us up. So we are guiding an improved production in Carlin and Nevada generally in quarter two, And again, a better second half than the first half of the year. And it's because of our focus on getting those maintenance schedules behind us. And, Henri, if you don't mind adding the sort of timing.

Yeah, so the Gold Strike roaster was planned down for 21 days, and it was up after 20. And the Gold Quarry roaster went down for 28 days as planned. in April and then for the autoclaves, the sage autoclave at TR, we take each autoclave stream down individually so the plant stays running at 50% capacity but the whole plant did go down for seven days as planned while the first phase or the first autoclave was down and the next one will go down in September for a planned maintenance job.

And, Lawson, I would just add to that. We were talking about it yesterday, actually, is the level of planned maintenance has really shifted to Honoree's point about bringing down order claims just to check the brick. And it's for the first time we are actually shifting the majority of downtime in planned maintenance. So the autoclaves we're taking down just to ensure that the integrity of the bricks are in good shape and bringing them up again so that we don't wait until it busts. And so we're in a much better place as far as planned maintenance goes. That's why we are a lot more comfortable being able to manage our gardens.

Yep, great for that. Thank you. Can I also ask you about the intended use of proceeds for the Donlin cash that you'll be receiving hopefully shortly?

Yeah, so, you know, our capital allocation is very clear. And again, if you followed me through my career, we stick to our plan. So we've got, we'd like to keep the balance sheet very healthy because we're going into this capital phase and, you know, the world is in a very sort of, dynamic period, to say the least. And so the way we manage it is that if we've got ability to allocate and bring down the debt a bit, when we get between Zero net debt and $500 million positive cash. We pay a special dividend. And the way to manage that also is share buybacks. And we are mindful, as you've seen us, doing a very considered share buyback strategy as we move. And as we lean into rationalizing some of our productive assets, it's good to use some of the Donlan cash to buy back the stock. And the best investment we can do right now, it's accretive on every metric. is buy our stock. So that makes sense. At the same time, we recognize the importance of rewarding our shareholders with some additional dividend. And so that's the way Graham and I are thinking about it. It's the way the board has guided us in managing this balance sheet, and we'll continue to do it that way.

Thank you very much. And then just... When you think about re-domiciling, potentially re-domiciling to the U.S., there is the cost of losing them at operating loss tax benefit. What are the benefits you're seeing that would justify considering such a move?

So, you know, the point is, I guess I'd underline your point about considering. Consideration to this has been an ongoing affair going back to even Peter Monk's days. You remember they used to call barrack American barrack. So I think let's not get ahead of ourselves at this stage. Right now the... I think the structure is well structured. One of the issues is that the U.S. assets are not efficiently held in the corporate structure, and it can be done better. But again, on the accumulated losses and losses, And we've got both operating and capital losses. Those are always available. We're not planning to sort of do away with them at all. We are always looking at ways to use them if we can. And so they will be considered in the overall... ongoing debate and that's really where we are at this stage. I think one particular Canadian paper got ahead of themselves on rushing out a story. But, you know, it's been, as I said to that paper, you know, it's something we consider all the time. It's a regular debate in our board, at least on an annual basis, and we'll continue to look at opportunities. It needs a logic to drive it, and that's the big challenge.

Fantastic. Thank you.

The next question is from Tanya Jakuskanik with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Yes. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you so much for taking my three questions. Mark, can I start back on the non-core assets now that Hemlo's on the block? And I looked through your portfolio. I think on the previous conference call, you had mentioned both Valdivar and Tongan as being non-core assets. Where does Pascualama and Norte Albuerto sit within that portfolio for you?

So Tongan, as you know, is far down the road on the process of realization. So we've started that process a while back. It's in the process. And Himla is just starting. PASCUA is, right now we've just applied for drilling permits to evaluate the preliminary economic assessment we referred to a while back on PASCUA. It's an integral part of Lama, as you know, and always has been. And more importantly, we've sort of stepped back and looked at it with, you know, zoomed out and brought Valadera into that sort of picture. And so it's got a bit of work to do before we get to the stage that this makes sense to define it as a non-core asset. And we're currently drilling targets adjacent to Valadera. Because Valadera, we've really transitioned to a good place at the moment. And as I say, we just made the first... We've completed the community consultation and we've just lodged the initial notice on applying for drilling permits within Pasqualama. We call it Alto now, Tanya.

Okay. Yeah.

And other down there, those potential sales.

Sorry?

the rest of some of the other assets that you have in South America.

We've realized most of El Indio. Alturas is in a process at the moment. I think it's Alturas, the chilly one. Norte Abiota is currently we're busy with Newmont on a pre-feasibility study. We're doing a study on it. It's ongoing and we'll wait for the results of that study.

Okay. And then if I could come back, my second question is, Mark, on the succession planning, and again, from the article in the Financial Times, they made it sound that it's a more formal process now. I guess the way you answered it, it's just a normal board process through the governance committee that You review succession planning, you know, quarterly or yearly. Is that a fair statement?

Yeah, I think that, I mean, remember, we went through this process in Rangold Resources. And, you know, how you define it, I mean, Tanya, I spoke to the reporter that you're referring to. So, you know, you should take my word for it rather than the reporter's.

Yeah, no, no, that's what I was just trying to understand.

We've always spoken about it makes sense to develop people's skills. We've got a very structured succession plan and as we get closer to the end of the decade or the completion of of Rikidik or both, you will see a more formal process emerge. It makes sense.

Okay. And then my last question, if I could, was just on Maui. Maybe, Mark, just what are the next steps? Where are we? I know negotiations continue, but maybe some visibility on, you know, are there any timeline, not timeline, but any next steps that we should be looking at or what are your next steps?

So, you know, I think we've reached agreement three times with the Malians, only for them to walk back the agreement. So and we're very clear about we've got a process that has commenced within the exit arbitration provisions, and that, just to be clear, is based and founded on the agreement that we have in what is the appropriate dispute resolution mechanism. And we've agreed it and we've used it before this, presidents, for it. And we would like to believe that that's the focus. And right now I can confirm that Marley is participating in that process. But at the same time, as we've always done through the last... a couple of decades, is it's better to, and I had this conversation with a member of the junta just over a year ago, and he agreed that it's always better to have a negotiated settlement than a badly run legal fight. And so, you know, I'd like to believe that we... What I can tell you is we're still very much engaged, and we're, as we've always done. And, Tanya, it's the same situation. Remember, we found ourselves in, after the transaction in 2019, that Tanzania was closed, Pakistan was nationalised, Papua New Guinea hadn't had its permit renewed. It was... Yeah, a couple of real challenging situations which we diligently worked our way through and delivered significant results out of that and a new partnership. It is more challenging in Mali because you're dealing with a forced change, and one of the big challenges is the lack of professional advice on the Mali side, which would help a lot if we could sit around a table and really unpack the numbers. And the thing that really sort of gets my attention is the fact that we've got the unnecessary retention of four of our executive teams, which is completely unacceptable. And so we're very mindful that we need to – work on this diligently and that we need to find a lasting solution with proper due process and the protection of our rights. And that's what we're managing.

And can you just remind me what the arbitration would be held? Is it in France, I guess? Yes.

It's an exit process. Exactly where the actual arbitration committee will land is something that the process will define going forward. But it's a World Bank exit program.

Okay. Okay, thank you, and good luck.

Thank you.

The next question is from Joshua Rails with RFI Associates. Please go ahead.

Yes, good afternoon, Mark.

How are you? Hello, Josh. I'm very well, thank you.

Good. I have two questions. The first relates to your cost structure. I love your ownership orientation. I love the Barrick Academy. And I'm looking at, you know, how you train people and how you manage costs. And I was comparing... Barrick's, you know, projected all-in sustaining costs for the year versus Agnico. And you're about $300 an ounce higher. And could you give a little bit of color on, you know, what the main factors are that you think drive those higher costs and whether, you know, it's a short-term thing that will converge over time or whether it's because you're you know, all over the world, and they're more concentrated in a jurisdiction. I'd love to get your thoughts about that to understand that.

And the second?

And the second one really relates to, you know, the excitement I feel for the industry and your company with, you know, when you look at the midpoint of your production and all in sustaining cost guidance for 2025, And if you take the run rate at the current gold price, it's about a 1,900-ounce pre-tax margin. And I wanted to just kind of confirm that I'm thinking the right way and that that kind of, you know, over a 12-month basis, if this is sustained, and we don't know if it will be, that's about a 6.3 billion pre-tax earnings run rate over 12 months. And, you know, you clarified how you would prioritize, you know, the use of the money. But I wanted to ask you on top of that if there was another exciting project besides Four Mile that if you had this kind of excess money, whether you would view your priorities a little bit different and maybe do something more in Canada or somewhere else with the funds or just stick to the special dividend and the buyback.

So Joshua, I'll start on the second one. I'll take you back to 2011 to 2015, where people used to complain that Rangold was ex-growth, because all we were doing was growing cash flow. And it went on all the way to 2015, when Barrick was the most valued gold company on the planet. And so your growth comes in many different facets, and the most exciting one is when you've got long-term growth, sustainability, and you grow your profits, you grow your cash flow. So, I mean, if you look at, if you take today's spot, which is difficult to do because, remember, there's a cost in it, and these costs change in an environment like we're dealing with today, they're still going to come through. But if you take today's revenue side, you're absolutely right. And in fact, if the cost profile that we've got today stays, we won't go into debt at all. and we will grow revenues. And, of course, what we have shown is that we don't lurch from one M&A transaction to another, but we are consistently investing in our future, which eventually pays off. On the actual cost and... and Agnico Eagle. One thing that everyone misses, and I would strongly recommend you do, is just plot the depreciation of the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar versus... The U.S. dollar, because the U.S. dollar is the benchmark. And inflation, headline inflation in U.S. dollars is real. And there's no depreciation of a currency. And that is, depending on where you look to going backwards, but it's around 10%. And the Australian dollar is a bit more, significantly larger than that. So then you look at our forecast cash flow, I mean, sorry, all in sustaining costs and total cash costs, because we run our business on both, out to the end of the year. We're well within that range when you adjust for depreciation when we're talking specifically Agnico. But at the same time, we're not harvesting a transaction. We're investing in our future. So fixing up some of the challenges in Nevada, and the same with Pogra, and the same with Tanzania, and we showed you at the invest today that we're running about $150 or even a little bit more on on a per, I mean, shove back to this position, on a per ounce basis above what our normal sustaining capital is. And we've shown why, and particularly in Nevada, there was a significant neglect in planned maintenance. So we've had a catch-up on the planned maintenance, and we have a cost because we've rolled out the reserves and the life of mines organically rather than buying them. And that comes with a cost because we've scheduled an additional 110 million ounces. in reserves. That's gold equivalent, so copper and gold life of mine schedules, and that comes with an additional cost on the cost side. It does come down, as we've pointed to, and the way it comes down is how successful are we in replacing and rolling our our plans forward because that dampens that decline in all in sustaining costs. We do get some benefit of currencies, but most of our operations around the world are dollar-based. They're not because we don't operate in a big delivery or big ounces in Canada or definitely not in Australia. So it is, it's not, you can't compare apples with pears. And that's really the driver. I see Graham wants to add to that.

Yeah, I think you've covered it well, Mark. The only other point I would make is obviously our forecast production is increasing over the next few years, and as that production goes up, we expect our costs to come down.

So we'll converge. Well, this is enormously helpful, and thank you for just your great stewardship. The quality of these calls is amazing.

Thank you for that, Joshua. And as you know, we're always available if you call into the team to help you get those models clear.

Very much appreciated.

And the last question is from John Tomasos with John Tomasos Very Independent Research. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Could you explain the organizational benefits As you simplify without Donlan and potentially Hemlo, Tongan, Zaldivar, maybe you save $2 million a month of exploration costs without Donlan, but you free up exploration personnel, admin resources, maybe reclamation personnel down the road divesting the older mines. Tell us how it makes your life easier.

So John, nice to hear your voice. And as usual, you're the last but not least in the line. One of the things I've always done is we don't increase our exploration budget with an increasing gold price or a decreasing gold price. We're very clear about we have one number between the mineral resource management or brownfields teams and the exploration teams. They have to compete for those dollars, and so what it does is keep us very focused on the quality of our portfolio. And over the last couple of years, four years, we've really tidied up our exploration team. As you've heard, the last, the rump of the El Indio and some of the other exploration projects that have been around for decades have now closed or dealt. and we've got a new portfolio of targets, much more focused. So what, and, you know, Donlan has its own team. We managed the process, or Christine and her team, you know, along with the Novigold group. And what it does is it's going to, I think Christine's looking forward to having more time to focus on North America and our portfolio of opportunities than, you know, be up there in Alaska. So that's a big release of executive time. And the same Tongan, again, we will sell the asset with the with the team that runs the mine. As you know, we are diverse and flat in our structure, so mines have a full management team. So anyone buying it gets their team if they want it. We are planning to continue our exploration efforts in Ivory Coast. We've got some interesting new projects there on the other side of the country from Tongon. And we have some real focused work, generative work in Chile, which we'll continue to focus on. And we've got emerging projects both in Peru I've spoken about Argentina and some new ones in Ecuador. So we've got lots to keep us busy with. I think it's the management time, the executive time, that these smaller assets that are high cost. And that's something I haven't touched on is... These assets we're disposing of are all at the high-cost end of our portfolio, and so we'd be bringing the cost down without really changing the production profile much. I hope that helps. Thank you. That's it.

There currently are no further questions in the conference call.

Thank you. Can we wrap up? Thank you very much everyone. Thank you those on the line for taking the time. I know it's been a busy day with multiple presentations and I appreciate those who have actually made the time to come in and visit. For those who are here, we've got some snacks and you can catch up with the team next door. So feel free to stay on. Thank you again and we'll be speaking to most of you I think maybe in Barcelona next week. Cheers.

This concludes today's event. Should you have additional questions, please contact the Barrick Investors Relations team. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.