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Thank you and very good morning to everyone here in Denver!
I always say the gold sector lives in interesting times and has always done so certainly for the last 40 years, and never more so than at the present with the gold price at record levels. The industry's chronic underinvestment in exploration, which I often red-flagged at this forum, has led to a dearth of new projects, forcing companies into M and A and while. At the same time, we at Barrick are very alert to the value of creative opportunities that the growing pressure for consolidation may create. We continue to look for any that will meet our stringent investment criteria. We have the rare luxury of doing so from an asset base that will support organic production growth well into the future.
I draw your attention to the customary cautionary statement, which can also be found on our website. Five years ago, we merged the Barrick and ran gold assets. We set out with the long-term vision of creating a standout value-focused gold and copper mining and exploration business founded on best assets, best-in-class management, and a strategy of sustainable profitability. The journey continues, but we have already built an industry-leading balance sheet, reducing net debt by $3.5 billion and investing $11.2 billion in rolling out plus 10-year life of mine plans for all our key mines. At the same time, we have returned more than $5 billion to shareholders, and looking ahead, our strong operating cash flows are providing the financial flexibility to fund the growth projects, which I will tell you more about in this presentation.
Our global portfolio boasts six tier-one gold mines with more in the making. And our long term plans are based on quality or bodies with industry leading grades which drive improving cost profiles alongside our peerless gold business. We are also building a substantial copper business in line with Barrick's long term vision of investing in its future. In 2019, we made a strategic decision to expand our copper portfolio because it enhanced our growth option to include copper-gold porphyry and recognized that copper is a metal that is as strategic as gold, which is precious. Our the miner super pit and record deck projects will promote Barrick into the premier league of copper producers when they start production in 2028 three of these tier one minds are in Nevada where they constitute the world's largest gold mining complex. The establishment of the Nevada gold mines joint venture five years ago was driven by the opportunity to create value by securing the long term future of the Nevada assets which at that stage had a short term horizon and lacked proper sustaining investment, reinvestment campaigns targeted at critical assets have already delivered. Plus 10 year life of mind plans and reserve replacement success. The focus now is on improved operational efficiencies from ongoing plant and fleet upgrades. Our other tier one mines are Pablo Viejo in the Dominican Republic where the expansion program designed to increase annual production sustainably above 800,000 ounces for more than 20 years is now up and running. Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali where brownfield's exploration is pointing to further life of mine extensions and Kibali in the DRC where there's also an abundant potential for reserve replacement and growth we highlighted here three world class gold growth opportunities all in Nevada. The world's best mining jurisdiction.
The recently commissioned Goldrush part of Nevada gold mines is ramping up to targeted 400,000 ounces per annum by 2028 adjacent to Gold Rush, the 100% Barrick owned four is returning grades double those of gold rush. It reminds me that formal does of those company making car and deposits of the past a world class asset in every sense and another tier one mine in the making. Also in Nevada, the 14 million ounce le project is developing into a major growth driver that could double or triple current reserves extending Carlin's life.
Beyond 2045 we are also making progress. As I said earlier with our two Transformative copper projects, the Lumwana expansion in Zambia and the giant Reko Diq copper gold project in Pakistan feasibility studies for both projects are on track for completion at the end of this year. To the point I made earlier. It's worth reminding you that Rico Deck will be both a gold and a copper mine designed to produce 400,000 tons of copper and 500,000 ounces of gold per year. When the two phases of the mine construction are complete. Ok. Everyone sitting in this audience must appreciate that mining is a consumptive industry which requires consistent replacement of the ounces. It depletes. Barack leads this industry in all body expansion and has more than replaced the gold reserves. It has mined over the past five years even more significantly. The answers that we have added have been the same or of better grade than the reserves that were mined. Importantly, we have the balance sheet strength and operating cash flows to fund our growth. And with the development of the Lamina Super Pit and the Rico Deck copper projects along with the steady growth in the Nevada gold mines operations, our gold equivalent production is forecast to grow by 30% by the end of this decade, which differentiates us from all our peers. Our sustainability strategy is holistic and embedded in our DNA. It represents a differentiated approach focused on the long term and based on our belief that environmental and social issues are interconnected with our businesses globally, the strategy is science based and its outcomes are measurable. That's why we developed our own comprehensive biodiversity assessment tool to evaluate our impacts on nature and inform effective conservation strategies. Considering our commitment to the social and economic development of our host communities. As I said at the beginning, we set out in 2019 to build a sustainable and profitable gold and copper business focused on world-class assets. We did not have to buy those assets at a premium. They were embedded in our combined portfolio and we just had to unlock the value our continuing success in achieving this is evidenced by our ability to project a 30% production growth in gold equivalent ounces by the end of this decade. Also, as I've shown you, we have a wealth of organic growth opportunities and the means to fund them. So this brings me to a subject. I have been flagging for some time and that is how undervalued barracks shares are today. When one considers some research based on ana analysts consensus net asset value of just two parts of our asset portfolio. Summarized on this slide, we on the left hand side, see Nevada gold mines, which is by far the best gold asset in the world's most mining friendly jurisdiction. And on the right hand side, we see our growing copper business which has already explained is well on track to becoming world class amongst peers. Moving one step further, this table identifies the unrealized value embedded in barracks portfolio. Nevada gold mines on its own should undoubtedly command the industry's highest valuation on that basis. This analysis conservatively assumes the price to N A multiple equivalent to that of Agnico Eagle. Although arguably Nevada gold mines should be higher rated, given its size and quality. The analysis applies a similarly conservative market market multiple to our copper assets in line with the copper pier. Although again, I would note that the recent BHPL transaction ascribes significantly higher multiples to those undeveloped copper assets in Argentina. We expect these NAVS to increase as we publish updating updated feasibility studies on two of our key growth projects at the end of the year. And as you can see from the table based on the analysis, the value of just our interest in Nevada gold mines and our copper portfolio nearly exceeds our current market capitalization. In fact, according to the current market value of our shares, the rest of our business has a value of only 20% of consensus NAV This includes our interest in three tier one gold mines outside Nevada. The world class Four Mile project which is owned 100% by Barrick are other gold mines and development projects still in the pipeline. And our exploration team's unparalleled success in uncovering in uncovering new answers.
So, ladies and gentlemen, in short, when you buy Barrick today, you get a lot for free. So thank you for your attention and I think I've caught up with your timing.
[Moderator: Raj Ray] That's, yeah, that's right. Mark. But we do have time for questions. go to the floor first, the gentleman at the back. Thank you. Hey, Mark, question on, on a little footnote in your slide there. Could you comment on your view of the risk adjusted returns for Don Lyn Norte Aero and, and Pascua Lama. And how would you compare those three to Rec Dick? Well, there's no comparison because all those need a slightly higher and sustained price of the metal. Whereas record is already delivering on a pure equity basis. irrs of the sort of the 15% of our hurdle rate assuming our standard 1300 gold and, and $3 copper. This is a world class asset. It's a big porphyry. In fact, it's one of 14 pors we've evaluated four of them and and there's, there's no strip ratio to it. I think it's 0.5 to one is the strip ratio. It's like you walk across the porphyry like you did in the early days of Escondida. And this is really opening up a a frontier similar to that Andy's frontier 7080 years ago. And I would add a interesting and challenging in geopolitical situation very similar to chile back in those days with the military government. I would also point out that we are planning to gear that investment with project finance supported by all the various Western agencies. And so that gears that return by another order of magnitude. And so, and and first production within the recode project is 2028 and as is the first production out of the expansion in Leanna. So, whilst Doan is a significant resource with latent potential, real potential. And we as miners and the point I made earlier is we spend very little time building our portfolios and, and we spend in Barrick a lot of time worrying about building our portfolios. And so we see the inventory is as important. A lot of people say to me, why don't you keep gold in the bank? And I point out that we are always adding gold in our inventory and our bank is the ground. And and so the more gold we add for us to mine and into the future, we add more value in the company and the, the rest of the gold we sell to be able to support that continued investment. And the same goes for the other two projects. These are projects that are certainly being invested in today, but all three and and without a doubt, there will be an opportunity to realize their value, whichever way you might consider. But are they valuable? Absolutely. That's why they're on the, on the slide. Thank you, Mark. Just quickly any other question mark. If I may have one quick question for me last year, the all in cost for the gold sector, this is not all, all in cost was close to 1900 including the 2 to 3% dividend yield. Assuming we get the 500 to $600 an ounce extra margin this year. How would be like to divide it? So we've got a very clear capital allocation policy when when our net cash on our balance sheet goes positive, we pay a extra dividend. We believe in strong balance sheets. I have always, I've been in this industry 40 years and when, when we as mining companies run out of ability to fund our projects, we can never rely on our investors because they're in the same boat. So it's better to have a strong balance sheet and be independent of the market. And so that's our focus. And I think the other thing I would just point out, you know, something to reflect on if you look at this period from two years ago and maybe a couple more years ahead, it feels just like 2011 to 2015 and, and we are messing with the all in sustaining cost definition just like we played around with the cash costs back in 2010. And we see miners forecasting production which is going to come to fruition in 2030 using 19 $102,000 an ounce. But, but in current spot input prices and that's a equation for disaster. We, we witnessed it all of us in 2015. And so, you know, both to the fund managers and to my industry colleagues. This is a time of reflection I believe. And it's also an important time that we all worry about investing in our future because right now, certainly the two industries within the mining industry, I understand gold and copper. We are very ex growth. And if we're gonna make a difference in this world going forward, we're gonna have to invest in our own futures. Thank you, Mark all the best. Thanks.