Gold major Barrick’s budgeted 2025 project capital spend of US$1.7-to-$1.95 billion will be dominated by investment in two major copper projects that will start to transform its earnings profile later this decade.
The company says in its newly released 2024 annual report forecast expenditure of about $1 billion at Reko Diq in Pakistan and $600 million at Lumwana in Zambia will drive new project spend in 2025. Total group capex for the year of $3.1-3.6 billion is higher than last year’s $2.6 billion even without an amount for the suspended Loulo-Gounkoto gold operation in Mali which absorbed about $307m of capex in 2024.
“The company will soon be a major copper producer,” Barrick chair John Thornton wrote in the report.
“Reko Diq is one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits while Lumwana will become one of the world’s major copper mines.
“We also moved forward on the expansion of Pueblo Viejo [in the Dominican Republic].
“Investments in these projects will amount to more than $10 billion. We expect them to increase Barrick’s gold-equivalent production by 30% by the end of the decade.”
Barrick CEO Mark Bristow said the $2 billion Lumwana “super pit expansion” and $6 billion Reko Diq phase-one project were “pivotal to Barrick’s future” with the former set to become a top-25 copper producer and Reko Diq positioned to be a top-tier copper and gold producer.
Barrick earned $2.14 billion from production of 3.91 million ounces of gold (91% of Barrick revenue) and 195,000 tonnes of copper (7% of revenue) in 2024, more than doubling free cash flow generation to $1.32 billion. It sold $11.82 billion worth of gold at an average received price of $2386/oz (versus $1941/oz in 2023) and $855 million of copper at an average $4.15/lb ($3.85/lb in 2023).
It is guiding for between 3.15-3.5Moz gold output in 2025, impacted by the continuing stalemate at Loulo-Gounkoto.
Barrick is targeting late 2028 for first production from the 240,000tpa copper and 300,000ozpa Reko Diq 1.0, with construction expected to start this year. Phase two would see Reko Diq grow to 400,000tpa copper and 500,000ozpa gold with a further $3.3-3.6 billion spend between 2029-2033.
The company is guiding for 2025 copper output of up to 230,000t at AISC of $2.80-3.10/lb. It projects Reko Diq can be a lowest-quartile-cost producer at 53c/lb C1 cash cost.
