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| And so our underground controls and being able to mine safely without really getting impacted by poor ground conditions, gives us much more confidence to go back into Getchell |
| This is a solid foundation on which we can grow our production and our value and is directed by our proven strategy and supported by the broad spectrum of skills we have developed to build a modern mining business |
| And again, I'm excited that we'll be able to show you some good results in the next couple of quarters arising from that work |
| Our track record of replacing reserves gives us the confidence to know we can deliver on this outlook without the need for dilutionary or delusionary acquisitions |
| And for me, it was really encouraging how we're managing the rock mechanics and the way we're mining |
| Our belief that combining the best assets with the best people will yield the best returns has produced an industry leading production profile backed by a strong balance sheet and sustainable dividend and capital return policy |
| We've done better than we expected on employing people and ramping up the employment |
| It has also become host to some of Barrick's most exciting organic growth prospects, notably the Lumwana copper mines expansion |
| And in Tanzania, our transformative Twiga partnership with the government continues to deliver exceptional results with North Mara and Bulyanhulu achieving the high-end of their production gardens for the year, and we're also expanding our footprint in the country in the hunt for new world class discoveries |
| And importantly, we have the balance sheet strength and operating cash flows to fund this growth, while still maintaining our industry leading credit rating |
| You'll see the performance improve through the year and I believe that we are building |
| Far from being a mature destination, it is a world-class goldfield, which we're successfully exploring for both greenfields and brownfields growth opportunities |
| Highlights of the year were our sustained and industry leading gold and copper reserve replacement, which is one of the key differentiators between Barrick and its peers |
| Another consistent performance from the AME region and a strong financial performance, admittedly with the wind of a record gold price at our back |
| Our strong balance sheet reflected by our investment grade rating also stands us in good stead as we navigate these uncertain times |
| The results for the fourth quarter reflect the improved performances from Cortez, Phoenix, and Pueblo Viejo, where we have now resolved the equipment issues in the flotation circuit |
| The financial numbers speak for themselves, but it's worth pointing out that year-on-year operating cash flow increased by 7% and free cash flow grew by 50% |
| And once we had paid for the strip, it was really good business |
| So, I'm very confident that you'll start seeing those costs come down because it's an 11 gram ore body |
| One of the key qualities that differentiates Barrick from its peers, as I noted earlier, is our ability to replace our reserves organically |
| Weather highlights include a near record fourth quarter production from Cortez and the acceleration of the Goldrush development, which is forecast to produce a 130,000 ounces in 2024 growing to around 400,000 ounces by 2028 |
| All-in-all, we see an exciting future for Cortez |
| Another noteworthy improvement during the year was the step up in performance at Turquoise Ridge following the commissioning of its 3rd shaft and improved performance at the Sage autoclave |
| In 2023, we were able to progress our sustainability strategy significantly |
| Protecting the health and safety of our people is Barrick's top priority, and last year, we made tangible progress in what we call our Journey to Zero, posting the best results since the merger |
| We've been struggling with that mine, and last year we said let's stop, cut it back a bit, reestablish it, bring in a fresh set of eyes as far as leadership goes and really the team did an excellent job in beating its guidance both on production and on costs |
| As I'll show you through my presentation, our focus on Tier 1 assets has delivered a peerless gold portfolio with meaningful potential for further growth, matched only by the significant ramp up of our copper business over the next 4 years |
| You know, everyone talks about all sorts of safety procedures, but we've landed on the on the view that operational excellence is really the foundation of a safe environment, when people know what to do and they do it properly |
| There's a lot of benefits in running -- it's like running a mega mine development |
| The numbers you can see here show the tangible benefits this strategy is delivering |
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| Also, as previously flagged, production in 2024 is a little lower than our previous estimate, primarily due to the delay in the record of decision at Goldrush and the slower ramp up of the expansion project at Pueblo Viejo |
| And NGM was always going to be a softer year in 2024, so the delay in the record of decision for Goldrush has exacerbated this |
| There was fear because it was a style of management, which was very nonconfrontational but quite tough and didn't all go well for inclusivity |
| As you all know, we had a slow start to the year with the operational issues at NGM and Kibali |
| As you can see here, both lagging indicators, the lost time injury frequency rate and the total recordable injury rate continued to come down |
| Our flagship growth project, the expansion of Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, as I shared with you last time, suffered some setbacks in the form of premature failure of flotation gearboxes and the collapse of the new crushed ore stockpile conveyor structure |
| And again, we've got a long tail in Nevada and the big challenges how we bring it forward |
| There's still a little bit of an inflationary pressure in those areas, which we're working on to bring down |
| And we have caught up a lot we're still catching up a bit because with the pressure on accessing people, we brought in the contracts because we just weren't getting on top of the development |
| Mark Bristow So Graham is clearly scared of what I'm going to say |
| And so -- what we found is that we were, through lack of flexibility underground because we're moving the whole business underground is that our development and you know this better than anyone you get behind on development, you constrain your mining flexibility and then you've got problems because you can't deal with a fall of ground or a sort of operational issue |
| So Tanya, just to complete that, we lost the ounces and the delay on the ROD because once we got the Record of Decision, we really had to refocus Goldrush to ramp up |
| And there, we're seeing an inflationary pressure year-on-year of around 4% |
| And then towards the end of the year the commissioning setbacks with Pueblo Viejo’s plant expansion impacting on production |
| One, there's been some political turmoil in Pakistan over the past week |
| We might be tough on standards, but we're soft on people |
| So those are the drivers and Carlin has -- we had the crossroads challenge where we had a large chunk of what we had modeled as high grade that was faulted out |
| Production was a little low, as I indicated earlier, and costs higher quarter-on-quarter on the back of lower grades in line with the revised plan following the Gounkoto pit wall failure |
| So when we went down another bench when we drilled the holes, we ended up modeling a fault, which cut off the ore body, which reduced the volume of high-grade material |
| I just wanted to ask the Cortez where you are going to be seeing lower production in '24 over '23 due to the Crossroad resource model change and reducing off-site mill |
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