Barrick Mining - Q1 2024
May 1, 2024
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. This is the event operator. Welcome to Barrick's Results Presentation for the first quarter of 2024. 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 Star, then one on your telephone keypad. We'll also be taking questions from those in the room. As a reminder, this event is being recorded and a replay will be available on Barrick's website later today, May 1, 2024. I would now like to turn you over to Mark Bristow, President and CEO of Barrick. Please go ahead, sir.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Thank you very much, and just before we start, let's just check the sound because there's feedback on it. How are we doing? Are you sure? Can somebody confirm that? Okay. So, with that, very good morning and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and particularly for those who've made an effort to come out and join us in person. Thank you very much for coming out. Now, I thought I'd start today looking across the world, where we've witnessed change accelerating, uncertainty becoming more permanent, and chaotic events a lot more common. The global pursuit of renewable energy has boosted the demand for copper, and with it, the price, up 15% in the first quarter of this year.
Unprecedented conflicts, plus economic uncertainty, have driven the gold price up 15% last year, and by the same margin so far this year to record heights, confirming once again the metal's status as the ultimate safe haven asset. Disappointingly, Barrick's share price, like those of its peers, is lagging the gold price, which raises the question: If you believe in gold, why not invest in the producers? The investment thesis, as far as Barrick is concerned, is that our embedded ability to grow our copper and gold production will amplify our profitability in a rising commodity market, as I'll show you in the course of this presentation. As this presentation will include some forward-looking statements, I draw your attention to the customary cautionary statement, which can also be found on our website.
Barrick currently, directly and indirectly, employs more than 50,000 people across our operations, and their health and safety are our primary concern, which is why I start the presentation with a report on our past quarter's performance on this front. Tragically, our African mines had two fatalities in January, as we announced at the time of our quarter four results. This has intensified our already laser focus on eliminating fatalities as the critical component of our journey to zero, and a carefully considered fatal risk management program has been rolled out worldwide. This has been receiving an enormous amount of focus over the past 18 months, and we, as an executive team, are determined to achieve our goal of zero fatalities in our operations. On a more positive note, our various injury frequency rates continued to decrease significantly against the same period last year.
This last quarter, 10 of our sites were lost-time injury-free. The Latin America and Asia Pacific region has had a particularly good run and record and safety record, having just completed 14 consecutive months with no lost-time injuries. Closely allied to health and safety is our complete commitment to sustainability in its broadest sense. Sustainability was the DNA of our business long before what is now called ESG. It's long before that ESG became an investment metric. Our distinct holistic approach, grounded on the concepts of partnership and stakeholder recognition, has earned us our critically important social license wherever we operate. Some of the past quarters' achievements are listed here, and we'll give you a flavor of the tangible results we are achieving. You will find a comprehensive account of our performance and targets in our annual sustainability report, scheduled for publication later this month.
I urge you to look it up on our website. We turn now to the overall highlights of the past quarter. As guided, it was a similar start to the year as last year. Gold production was in line with plan, but down on the previous quarter, as I'll explain in the next slide. We remain on track to meet our full-year guidance. Copper production was also in line with our last year, and like gold, is forecast to grow through the year. I'll also deal with the improved financial results compared to this time last year, a little later. Successful brownfields exploration, the very engine that drives Barrick's unparalleled ability to replace its mine reserves, continue to deliver, and the greenfields programs are expanding our portfolio and opportunities around the globe. These are the operating results.
As anticipated, seasonal maintenance, the most important being, Pueblo Viejo conveyor rebuild and mine plan sequencing, resulted in lower gold production, which in turn increased our cost per ounce. The commissioning of PV's replacement conveyor is now complete, and the resumption of mining and processing at Porgera will also support the gold production ramp-up we have planned for the rest of the year. The lower production, offset by higher gold price and supported improved financial results when compared with the same period last year. Year-on-year net earnings per share increased by 143% for the quarter, while adjusted net earnings per share grew by 36%. At $0.19 per share, we were ahead of consensus for the quarter. The attributable EBITDA margin rose by 5%-41%, and the operating cash flows remained strong at $760 million.
The quarter dividend was maintained at $0.10 per share, and it's worth noting that at a time when both the gold and copper sectors are ex-growth, Barrick's strong balance sheet supports its organic growth projects, enabling it to project a significant rising production profile for the next five years and beyond. We start the operational review in North America, as usual, with the ramp-up of the Goldrush underground mine now well underway at Nevada Gold Mines. Our focus has also shifted to the nearby Barrick-owned Advanced Fourmile target, with its world-class potential. The successful permitting of Goldrush will accelerate Fourmile's progress up the value curve, and a significant evaluation drill program has commenced this month, testing the large inventory base and growing the mineral resources to inform a pre-feasibility study decision expected by the end of this year.
In other news from Nevada, the continued greening of Barrick's global grid advanced with the commissioning of the first 100 MW of the TS Solar power plants, which is expected to have the second 100 MW phase commissioned in the second quarter of this year. As guided, Nevada Gold Mines made a softer start to the year. Cortez came in ahead of plan, in fact, a significantly ahead of plan. Carlin was on track on a run rate through for the whole year, and Turquoise Ridge is expecting a significant improvement as it addresses its backfill and development backlog following a planned shutdown in the quarter. For a supposedly mature gold district, Nevada remains a highly prospective Tier one terrain for our exploration team.
The many substantial brownfields targets shown on this map will support its five-year reserve replacement program, and the team is advancing a pipeline of exciting greenfields targets. Meanwhile, continued work on our ore body models have highlighted some significant untested potential. I've spoken to you about the Greater Leeville before, but another example of this work is shown in these before-and-after cross-sections of the Turquoise Ridge deposit, demonstrating how the updating of geological models can drive growth. It's early days, but this process of remodeling has generated some exciting new targets, as highlighted in those red circles on the right-hand section. I anticipate that these will result in substantial additions to the already high-grade Turquoise Ridge endowment. We move now down to the Latin America and Asia Pacific region, which had a very good quarter all around.
Highlights included the progress at Pueblo Viejo, which I've already referred to, another strong performance from Veladero, and the restart of operations at Porgera. Reko Diq feasibility study is on track for completion by year-end, with first production scheduled in 2028. Pueblo Viejo processed lower grades while its new conveyor was being rebuilt, and this impacted production for the quarter, which also affected costs. The replacement conveyor has now been commissioned, and the plant is expected to ramp up during the second quarter. As production increases, we expect costs to come down. With the plant expansion now substantially complete, the focus has shifted to the related new tailings storage facility, where work is progressing as planned, and the feasibility study is expected to be completed in quarter three.
I referred to the Pueblo Viejo expansion earlier as our flagship organic growth project, and this is why: It'll increase and sustain gold production at or above 800,000 ounces for at least 20 years. It's worth remembering that Pueblo Viejo was on the verge of closure five years ago, when the new Barrick team figured out how to unlock its vast reserve and secure its long-term future as a Tier One gold mine. Shown here is a graphic illustrating the impact equipment failures had on the project last year, and more importantly, where we're headed now with the new structure having been rebuilt and commissioned. In Africa and the Middle East, Loulo-Gounkoto produced its usual steady Tier One performance.
The feasibility for the Lumwana Super Pit expansion remains on track for completion by the end of the year, and the infrastructure for mining the Jabal Sayid copper mine,Lode one was completed. Continuing transition to renewable energy at Loulo-Gounkoto and Kibali also delivered significant savings. Loulo-Gounkoto increased production and kept costs tightly controlled. Its second solar plant was commissioned during the quarter, replacing heavy fuel oil with solar power as an energy source, delivering a cost saving of some $6 million just this last quarter. While on Mali, we are aware of press speculation, originally reported in Africa last year and recently picked up by the Canadian media, about the government's so-called intention to expropriate the Loulo-Gounkoto complex. As we have previously disclosed, we have been in ongoing dialogue with the government of Mali on several matters that impact our operations.
As part of our engagement, the government has recently confirmed to us that they do not intend to expropriate the complex. Like any government, Mali wishes to maximize their benefits from mining, and Barrick remains committed to an equitable sharing of those economic benefits with our host country, while protecting our shareholder rights. Our engagement with the government is continuing on that basis. The Loulo district remains highly prospective. Deep framework drilling is targeting the potential for large-scale extensions on repetitions of the main high-grade Yalea system. Results confirm that the system is still open, with high-grade mineralization present at depth, while shallower drilling to the south is returning encouraging intersections from the actual main Yalea structure. At Kibali, production was down in line with lower grades from planned waste stripping at two open pits.
The mine is expected to show much improved results on the back of higher grades in the second half of the year as we complete that stripping. Exploration during the quarter around Kibali further defined a significant high-grade 10 trend immediately adjacent and similar to the massive KCD deposit on which Kibali was built. We are modeling numerous high-grade intersections and potential load shapes, which could deliver a substantial satellite project. In Tanzania, North Mara's production was lower quarter-on-quarter, in line with its mine plan. Lower production meant higher costs. Bulyanhulu's production was flat, with higher tons processed offsetting lower grades. The lower grades with the higher tons were reflected in the increase in cost for the quarter, but again, we're expecting that to come down over the next three quarters.
A globally significant organic copper growth project, the Lumwana Copper Mine Super Pit expansion, is on track for first production in 2028. The accelerated feasibility study is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, with construction works expected to start in 2025. The expansion will transform Lumwana into a major copper mine with a life of more than 30 years. A planned shutdown and lower grades reduced production in quarter one, but again, higher grades going forward will deliver improvements through the year. Barrick also, on the back of all the rumors in the market, continues to work with ZESCO to alleviate pressure on the Zambian power grid, and we do not expect any power shortages to impact production. We are in the process of finalizing a power supply agreement with ZESCO, which will secure offtake from Mozambique.
In addition to this, we have implemented a cogeneration program using our diesel standby generators. This will provide alternative sources of power of some 29 MW, which is more than 50% of the Lumwana's current demand. I've often said that exploration is to a mining company what R&D is to the pharmaceutical industry. Discovery and development are the only true drivers of value creation in the mining industry. Our teams continue their search for Tier One opportunities across the world's gold and copper regions, as shown on this map. In the United States, we continue to advance our Nevada portfolio, both in the joint venture as well as in Barrick's name itself, along with developing opportunities in a number of other prospective states. In Canada, we're developing our growing portfolio of projects across the Superior Craton.
In Latin America, we're testing priority targets around Veladero, Pueblo Viejo, Ecuador, Peru, and more recently, Jamaica. In Africa, I mentioned the high-potential targets around Loulo-Gounkoto and Kibali earlier, and we're increasing our ground holding in many of the countries where we operate. In Pakistan, our geologists are focused on unlocking the maximum value of the multiple known porphyries within the Reko Diq project area, as well as looking for new near-mine discoveries. In Saudi Arabia, we've agreed with our partner, Ma'aden, to add additional ground around Jabal Sayid and Umm Ad Damar and beyond to the joint venture. As I touched on earlier, our transition to clean energy is making steady progress, and not only propels us towards our goal of a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, but also drives efficiency and cuts costs.
Another object of key importance to us is ensuring we have a minimum impact on our environment today and for future generations. Our support of the Garamba National Park in the DRC and the protection of the Sage Grouse population in Nevada are just two examples of our approach to biodiversity. Ladies and gentlemen, to wrap up my presentation today, I thought it was worth recapping all the reasons why Barrick represents a standout investment opportunity. How you can see there are many great reasons which differentiate us from our peers, including our unrivaled reserve replacement track record, high-quality asset portfolio, and industry-leading balance sheet, which will ensure we can afford our future growth and deliver more value to our shareholders. Today, we are the most undervalued major gold and copper mining company in the industry.
But as we deliver on our operational plans and growth projects, I have no doubt that will change. Included in our portfolio is a copper business, which is already a significant contributor and positioned to grow. We have all seen the excitement around the latest BHP bid for Anglo American, and it's clear that the driver of this bid is Anglo's significant copper portfolio. You might be interested to know that when we have finished the Lumwana expansion and the Reko Diq project construction, our copper production will be on a par with Anglo's copper portfolio today. That's certainly not valued in our stock currently. On that note, I will end my presentation, and we would be happy to take questions, starting here in Toronto with the audience and before going to those connected through the webcast.
Lawson Winder (Senior Equity Research Analyst)
... Thank you very much for the presentation, Mark. Lawson Winder from Bank of America Securities. I wanted to ask two questions. So first would be just about the commentary on the 2024 outlook and around the royalty. I just wanted to understand if you guys are concerned at meeting that cash cost guidance in the event that the gold price average is above $2,100 per ounce?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So, I mean, Lawson, it's all in the models and the plans going forward. And as I said to you, I'll step you through it. So Nevada is at a place now where we are absolutely clear about our cost and our production challenges and opportunities. And I, you know, I've been really working on flattening that structure and getting ownership at the mine site, for those that have visited, you know, to our mines recently. And the big driver, if you look at it in Carlin, is, you know, slightly softer as per the overall grade that we're forecasting for this year. A slightly softer quarter on Carlin because of the grade.
But a bigger throughput, so we managed to get our gold production, but the grade starts lifting up, and so we have an opportunity to drive down the cost. And so that's a big driver. There are two big drivers in Nevada, that one and Turquoise Ridge. And Turquoise Ridge is all about backfill and making sure that the infrastructure to support our backfill... Because Turquoise Ridge is a high-grade mine, low cost, but its geotech is challenging. So you've got to manage the extraction with backfill, and we needed to really put some more redundancy into our backfill infrastructure to make sure we can meet our plans. And that's what we did. At the same time, we went down for a big planned maintenance on the SAG mill.
So those two drivers are the ones that catch us up on the guidance and bring the cost down because they are the Turquoise Ridge is more tons higher grade, and so is Carlin, for different reasons, and that's helped. You know, as you know, that's the best way to deal with costs, a cost, on a cost-per-ounce base. I would point out that the team has been really focused, as you know, I've always really been focused on, and that is the unit cost per ton. So we're much more comfortable that we're on top of that game on our unit cost per ton in Nevada, which is really the thing that ultimately drives the overall cost per ounce. In Latin America and Asia Pacific, the key is Veladero. And again, we've now...
You know, we would have made our guidance last year if Veladero had got the ramp up right, but we had the conveyor belt infrastructure collapse. I mean, sorry, PV. Thank you for that. So we would have made our guidance if we had got PV right, but we had that collapse right in the fourth quarter. And what I said last time we spoke is, that's an engineering challenge, which we've actually addressed now. We've rebuilt it, commissioned it, it's done. So now we're ramping up the tons, which you saw, and with that comes the fine-tuning of the flotation circuit. And we need the full throughput to be able to get that flotation circuit finely tuned.
That is really the driver of the overall cost because it picks up the recovery, the grades there. It's not a high-grade mine, but the concentration, the flotation concentrates the grade. PV is a low-cost producer naturally, so because a lot of this, the feed we're using is stockpiled. It's already mined. So that's the other driver. And then the final driver was Kibali. And again, that's a mine plan-driven process. If you look at the run rates in the other mines, we're in good shape. But Kibali, we had to do those pushbacks on the two pits, because Kibali is. It's always relied on the flexibility that the open pits give to utilize the excess throughput capacity in the plant, and we needed to get those pits open.
And so that impacted the production for quarter one, and quarter two, there's a big lift in both grade and throughput. And then we, we're at the run rate on the production profile. Loulo is gonna be more of the same for the next three quarters. The other one is North Mara. Again, we've introduced open pits into North Mara. As you know, we spoke about it last year a couple of times. We've got the underground now working, and it's about optimizing that. And again, there was some scheduled work to be done in North Mara which impacted on...
And we, again, we'll see a small pickup in grade this quarter two, and then quite a big pickup in grade going out on the back half of this year, and really that's, so, you know, you hear me articulating the profile, and so when, you know, whereas in the beginning of last year, we had to catch up, whereas this year, we're on plan. It's very clear to us. Of course, the one thing that's good about where we are is that we've been diligently working to get that... What's the right word? Inflection point on the production, and it was gonna be last year, but with the PV hesitation, we've pushed that into this year. But we're really at that stage.
So we've got and I always say to the team, "You know, the difference between a good and great company is a great company can execute, leave a good legacy." So when you look at the expanding margins with the higher gold price, we've got that to help us, and we've got the costs coming down. And so, you know, we're in a reasonable position going forward to expand our margin, which is what we work for every day. To answer your question.
Lawson Winder (Senior Equity Research Analyst)
That was perfect. Thank you very much. It was hard not to notice in your presentation slides a major focus on some of the exploration success and the huge amount of exploration targets that you guys have. I mean, it is a great part of the story. Maybe this is a little early in the year to be asking, but I'll try anyway. But what are your thoughts on reserve replacement this year in gold?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So I think for the first time, Nevada's gonna get close, if not achieve it, eh, Simon?
So in Nevada, we've got to a five-year plan now, so which is a big step forward, and we've got some very exciting stuff. We've got stuff that's still working, you know, the extensions to the Greater Leeville is real. This... that's not all in, baked into our plans. The new modeling that we've done in Turquoise Ridge, if that is a duplication on those folds below the main horizon, which we've- which is in the reserves, that's an exciting development. We haven't quantified it yet, but it's significant. Do you wanna add anything else, Simon? Just speak up, eh.
Simon Bottoms (EVP of Mineral Resource Management and Evaluation)
Pakistan will also bring a substantial contribution.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Okay, yeah. So that, I'll do that. And once we finish the feasibility in Pakistan, it's like 15 million ounces of gold. How much?
13 million ounces of gold and a whole bundle of copper. So, you know, we really show a big step up in our reserves going forward. And I think, you know, Loulo, Kibali, they are the same, just adding the ounces they mine.
Greg Barnes (Head of Mining Equity Research)
Mark, Greg Barnes from TD. Couple of questions. One, PV. You've got the ramp-up slide in terms of tons, throughput. I think that's what it is, without my glasses.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah.
Greg Barnes (Head of Mining Equity Research)
In terms of grade, I mean, in terms of recovery, when do you think you get that optimized? Is that through the course of the year, and by 2025, you're at full run rates there, both on throughput and grade and recovery?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So, you know, the grade in PV is around 2.4 ±1.5 grams either side. And we blend the ore out of the pit with the stockpiles. That's what we're doing, and we concentrate that into the autoclaves. So, and one of the things that we did in the ramp-up last year is that, just to remind you, we built this new flow sheet, and what it did is it added fuel to the autoclaves. So we put the autoclaves into a higher temperature regime, and so we added a technology, a flash cooling vessel, effectively a flash point, so we could flash off the heat when it got hot.
But with the stumbling last year, we had to go back to run-of-mine feed on the autoclave. So we ended up having, in two of our autoclaves, having the ability to do both. So to take run-of-mine feed and to take the higher concentrate, high sulfur feed, which is much more efficient because it's at a higher temperature. So we've got a much more flexible flow sheet. We are now at that stage, to your point, Greg, running up the throughput. We need that throughput to get, you know, to a, to the sort of nameplate, to be able to optimize the float circuit. We are getting the float up already. Then that's the recovery.
We've had pretty much every expert, operational and metallurgical, from the Barrick Group and some outside help, just to manage that reagent suite, because that's the trick. We've done all the test work. We test all the time. We're comfortable with the targets. We've just got to settle the throughput run rate. And that's what you see in the slide, is that during that build-up, there's still a little bit of dynamic in the feed, but we are getting there.
Greg Barnes (Head of Mining Equity Research)
So the second question is around Mali. How far apart are you? 'Cause I know the government has approached you with new demands. Is this a wide gap, or is it something you think you can resolve very quickly, or is this going to be a situation that drags on for some time?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So I think it's, you know, I've spent a lot of time there, and Sebastiaan Bock, who runs Africa and Middle East, has spent more. So we've spent a lot of time engaging. And what happened was, like any sort of revolution, inverted commas, because it was effectively a very uncomfortable situation between the population and the civilian government, which was less than sort of efficient, to say it politely. And so it drove this change, as we've seen before in Mali. And so immediately, the transitional government, which was formed, headed by the junta, was looking for ways to get more out of the mining industry because that's their only lever to pull. So they did an audit, which, again, we supported. We're never shy of supporting audits.
But the objective of that audit initially was to try and find fault rather than look for opportunities to build a better industry, which is what we all agreed we would do, including the people in authority. Anyway, it took them a long time to release that report, which we have now. So we've been able to respond to it, and sit down with the Ministry of Finance at this stage, and more recently, there's a minister of mines that is engaging with us. So that's where we are with the engagement. And we have... Just to try and explain, Mali's government organs are largely intact, and then you've got the junta with a sort of executive that they've appointed overarching the normal organs of government.
Mali's quite a bureaucratic structure, a bureaucratic government. We know all the people, and we've got to know the new people in power. So my natural reaction is, if you're coming up with claims, you should have a model, a basis on which it is raised. So you should share it with us, and of course, we've got a model, so we can put the two together, and we can work out who's right and who's wrong or where it is, and find a way forward. As you know, I've always preferred to engage, and I've already had that conversation. You know, should we be looking to find a solution together, or should we be fighting?
Because we can go to arbitration and get a competent authority, again, as we've done in the past in Mali. And both parties agree it's much more constructive to engage. So that's where we are. And the 2023 mining code, which has been approved now, and we're waiting for all the regulations, specifically, provides for an old order right, to coin a phrase, to accept the 2023 code when the permits come up for renewal. We haven't come up for renewal. We've got two different permits. They're quite far apart, as far as times go. But again, like we've done in all our countries, we would prefer to debate it, and we did it with the, actually, the civilian government beforehand, and engage ahead of time.
Our position is where we find good reason for us to be able to improve, you know, things like that were never in our 1991 code, because the current convention is now a. It's morphed from the '91 code because we've accepted changes as we go. So it's—that's the debate. Of course, we're dealing with people that are not particularly competent in the mining industry. So our argument is, be careful you don't compromise the benefits to Mali by taking too much and eroding the value of the ore bodies that we've defined. It's a complicated debate. You know, for me to say it's gonna be easy, look, we've had some very engaging conversations in Mali over the last 28 years. And that's where we are. So...
One thing I can tell you is that we've challenged the authority about these rumors, and they have very clearly said to us in writing that they have no intention of expropriating their assets. So, you know, that's all I can tell you at the moment. But it is dynamic. It is a very stressed economy. We are dealing with the... All the five of the G7 countries have full embassies in the country. Everyone's concerned about taking this country forward, particularly the Western powers. And definitely the Malian authorities, you know, are clear that they want to do something that's good for Mali. They're not trying to sort of take Mali and well, that's certainly what they've told me directly.
So, you know, I'm sorry I can't give you more granularity, but I'm actually, as I usually do, I'm just giving you the lie of the land.
Greg Barnes (Head of Mining Equity Research)
Great. Thanks, Mark. I'll hand it over.
Hi, Mark, it's Jackie Przybylowski at BMO. Maybe just to dig into that a little bit more, if you could talk about the government in Mali and the stability. I'm just not familiar with the structure of a military junta. Like, how stable is that, and do you expect any kind of change to the structure of that government over time?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Well, I think you're asking me to say something that I'm not prepared to say. So, you know, this is the third military leadership the country's had. The one was very short-lived. The overall intention, and by its very self-definition, it's defined itself as a transitional government. The intention is moving to that, to reintroduce normal civilian government going forward. And as you know, there's a lot of stress in that region. We've seen Niger move to a military government, so has Guinea, where, you know, there are big investments going on in the iron ore part. So that whole region is a challenging environment, and the enemy is ISIS, the radical Muslim movement in the Sahel. So, you know, there's a...
It's very complicated, and then none of them are particularly in doubt, apart from Guinea.
Greg Barnes (Head of Mining Equity Research)
Sorry, I didn't mean to try and catch you on something. On another topic, can you maybe talk about Porgera and how this startup is going there, just given the mine's been down for a while?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
You know, the only thing I would say, it's going surprisingly well. Sort of, it's like, but sometimes like running in the dark. You don't particularly know what next challenge you're gonna get, but since we, since we moved to the official startup, and then we engaged with the Hela Province on restarting the gas powered power stations, which are on the next door province, re-erecting the pylons that carry the power through to the mine, we've done all that. We've commissioned the generation facility, and we're feeding the mine. So, you know, and we're ramping up. And we did a lot of pre-work on ramping up, but, you know, so far it's going well. So far, we're ahead of plan.
Greg Barnes (Head of Mining Equity Research)
That's great. Thank you very much.
Ralph Profiti (Principal, Equity Research Analyst)
Mark, this is Ralph Profiti from Eight Capital. I'm just wondering, as you move to this feasibility study at PV coming in Q3, is a lot of that going to be sort of recalibration and retooling of the equipment that's happened over the past few months? And can you talk a little bit about some of the tailings facility management changes that have been going on, and that are gonna go into that study?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
As far as the expansion of the processing facility, it's done. The feasibility I'm referring to is for the tailings position. We've got the permit on the back of a pre-feasibility, and it'll be finalized with the final feasibility study. And it's all about the geotechnical test work on the wall, and making sure that, you know, the design is as required in a seismically active region, you know, where PV is. And of course, we have the original tailings facility, which was equally well-designed as a reference. In the meantime, to achieve that pre-feasibility, we did all the consultations. And we've way down the road on engagement with the community on relocation.
I was there just a few weeks ago. We are busy building the new towns, and they are substantial towns. I mean, they are particularly impressive towns. And then we'll start the relocation. Some of the first relocations will happen this year. So we are progressing. We have no reason to believe that we will not complete the feasibility study, and we're progressing in all, at all the engagements and the social plans and all that sort of stuff, as well as the technical investigation to confirm the final design of the actual retaining infrastructure.
Ralph Profiti (Principal, Equity Research Analyst)
Then secondly, can you just talk about delivering the pre-feasibility study at Fourmile, and how the Newmont negotiations, discussions, and bringing that into NGM would then kinda follow on from that?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
And I must say, it's worth just reinforcing. I don't think people appreciate the importance of permitting Goldrush. And I mean, the team did an excellent job. When you think of, you know, we started the process in 2018, and we completed it in 2023, effectively. So it's a particularly good piece of work. All the consultation, everything, as you know, it's not easy to permit mining projects in the United States. And we had the support of both sides of the aisle, from our senators and congresspeople, that's the Federal Senate and Congress out of Nevada, as well as the Nevada governor and the legislature in Nevada. So it was, and we cut the ribbon with the governor of the state last week, so it's officially open.
Fourmile is an extension of that, but a different style of mineralization, in that you're moving the classic Carlin-style mineralization into a metamorphosed, much more brittle rock. So you get the big breccias, which have been the heart of some of the famous super high grades in Carlin over the years. And so you get much bigger size ore bodies and at a better grade. And so under the joint venture, we are. If we complete a feasibility study that proves viability, we can put it to Newmont. And there's a formula, and as soon as we pass the filter on the formula, we put it, and there's a process of calculating a market value. So not an NPV, but a market value.
Once that is done, Newmont are obliged to either buy their share in cash and reimburse us on all the costs that it's taken us to get there, or dilute. That's the option. And again, as you know me, I've always been one that engages, because this is a really real asset. We have a good relationship with Newmont in Nevada. We've worked well together as a partnership, and so we are open with the conversation and the progress with our partners. We haven't agreed. Sorry, I'm out of the... So we haven't agreed on a specific way forward. But we have agreed that we will have, at the appropriate time, a conversation to investigate options. Because it's in everyone's interest to do that.
Newmont has some excluded ground as well, under the... 'Cause remember, this was a hostile engagement, and we had agreed that we would value the deal on the basis of the market. And there were some assets, like Fourmile, that wasn't valued by the market, and same on their side. So we've got some lower-grade options that are sitting in the excluded assets. But... And as you know, in the fullness of time in mining, these are real assets. They come into play with a rising oil price.
Ralph Profiti (Principal, Equity Research Analyst)
In terms of Fourmile, do you have a permit, or do you have to start like Goldrush, all the permitting process?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So there will be some permitting, but Goldrush helps in that permitting because of the infrastructure. We can access the underground—it's an underground mine. We can access it from already permitted positions. And of course, under the joint venture agreement, we can also use the installed Nevada infrastructure. So, and right now, we need to drill it out. So what we're doing in the moment is we've got a focused Barrick team looking at its infrastructure layout, drilling a number of holes from surface, about a $42 million project for this year, to be able to scope the project and get our head around what it's gonna entail to get a pre-feasibility study done. That's what we're doing.
Ralph Profiti (Principal, Equity Research Analyst)
And in terms of Pueblo Viejo, besides what, you know... Is there any other problem that we might have, or is everything good to go, and now it's just a, an issue of ramping it up?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
How long have you been in the mining industry? Nothing's perfect. But as we stand today, I mean, we set out to put this expansion in back in 2019, when we would have closed the mine in 2021. And against all opposition or doubt, we've done that, and we're busy rolling that out. So, you know... To give you an idea, up until 2020, the average contribution that Pueblo Viejo made to the corporate tax of the Dominican Republic was 18%. So we dipped in the last two years because we had to manage with stockpiles, and we didn't have access to the expanded processing plant. But now that we have, and we drive that cost down back above 800,000 ounces for a very long time, we go back to that very privileged or heavy contribution to the Dominican Republic.
I would add that PV is the very foundation of the power infrastructure for the whole country, and a big taxpayer and a big employer. It's changed the whole province, the province in which PV is located. So it is a very big, and this construction, when we did the big construction expansion, what we did is we had to bring in external partners, but we also partnered those external partners with local business partners. So we really did support the economy during the whole COVID period as well. So, you know, we've built a very strong license to operate in that country. Okay, let's go. Can we move to the telephone participants, please?
Operator (participant)
Certainly. 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're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press Star, then Two. First question comes from Daniel Major with UBS. Please go ahead.
Daniel Major (Metals & Mining Analyst)
Hi, Mark. Can you hear me okay?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah, perfectly. Thanks, Danny.
Daniel Major (Metals & Mining Analyst)
Hey, thanks. Yeah, a couple of questions. Yeah, the first one, and slightly a higher level one, obviously, M&A, hot topic in the sector at the moment, and one of the discussions around valuation comes around complexity of portfolios, lots of assets, lots of minority interests, good gold price environment. Are you looking at the portfolio and thinking of any assets you could use to streamline and recycle that capital into your expansion projects?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So we have, you know, we have a couple that you could argue are non-core. Tongon is one. The others are strategic in the form of Hemlo, and we've put a lot of effort into repositioning Hemlo, and you'll see that. And right now, it's an important component of our business because it's our only asset in Canada. And while we are investing heavily in Canada, we don't think it's wise for us to have to step away from Canada. We wanna grow our Canadian footprint profitably. You know, the Veladero asset is managed by Antofagasta, but again, I mean, sorry, the Zaldívar asset is managed by Antofagasta. And again, you know, the copper price is important.
Our copper strategy is important, so, you know, at this stage, that's our-- that's where we are, and we've got some work in progress in Chile, which we're, you know, quite excited about. And that's it. The rest are Tier One assets, you know, fitting snugly into our strategy. So, you know, we will, at the appropriate time, as we've demonstrated... But I think the key that I would answer you with is, at the time of our transactions, the joint venture between-- the consolidation of Barrick and Randgold as one company, we sold the non-core assets.
When we looked at additional opportunities and the Nevada joint venture, we dealt with the challenging assets in the form of Long Canyon and the things that were disappointing as part of the consolidation of those joint ventures. So we don't. You know, some people are still dragging assets with them after big premium transactions. We don't have that problem. So, you know, Dan, I can't see... No, that's my answer. Right now, we've got really fantastic world-class assets, as I said in my presentation. You know, a reference point is just look at what BHP's had suggested they could pay for Anglo American's copper assets. Arguably, there's a bit of other stuff with it, but it's still a big tag, and we've got it organically.
So that's our focus, and we've got our growth assets in Nevada and surrounds, the rest of our portfolio, particularly PV. And then it's the exploration group that's starting to present significant footholds in the major gold, copper regions of the world. And we believe that's the future of Barrick right now.
Daniel Major (Metals & Mining Analyst)
Great, thanks. And then just, yeah, one other, if I may. It looks like in Reko Diq there's a deal approaching on the other side of the 50%. Does that impact your funding and kinda how you're looking at financing the project?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
No, not at all.
Daniel Major (Metals & Mining Analyst)
Okay, great. Thanks.
Operator (participant)
The next question comes from Tanya Jakusconek with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Oh, great, good morning. Thank you so much for taking my question. Mark, can I just ask about the elections in the Dominican Republic? You know, given everything at the high gold price and everything else going on in the world, how are those going? Are there anything we should know about with respect to changes in royalties, taxation, anything else that would impact Pueblo Viejo?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So every indication at the moment is that the president, the current president, will have a second term. You know, when he was elected, he wasn't expecting COVID. He's probably, as a leader goes, he probably managed that crisis better than any leader in any country that we have investments in. And he's been, you know, he's steered a very good ship. He's dealt with some of the challenges, and he's had the next-door neighbor challenge on top of that, so that's been a challenge. But, I mean, we're not expecting... The opinion polls at least indicate that he's more than likely to be the successful candidate.
And if he is, we know he's shown and highlighted the importance of investment in that economy, and I don't believe there's gonna be—well, there's certainly not gonna be any aggressive engagement with the private sector. I think there's gonna be real focus to it, to build it, the private sector going forward.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. Well, that's good. That's good to hear. If I could ask another question, just from, the, actually, maybe Graham would be best to answer this one. Graham, just on the, that, remind me, in Chile, with Pascua-Lama, the $430 million, that if it, if we don't have the mine up and running and paying by 2026, we have to pay it back. Can you remind me what you can do to push that out, and any work that you're doing on Pascua-Lama now, and I know you're looking at EA, is that, would that be work that can help push this out? Just remind me. I forget how the procedure goes there.
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
So, Tanya, there's really sort of two aspects to this. The first is, obviously, that date has previously been pushed out, you know, from its original date, so that can always be negotiated. But more importantly, actually, when we installed the electricity line from Chile across, we actually started exporting power. And that, for us, is important because it helps us with that VAT refund, because it effectively meets the requirements for production, in a sense. So that has actually really sort of dissipated the risk associated with that VAT claim.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. Well, that's good. Then my final question, just for myself to understand, and thank you, Mark, for the details on how the assets are gonna perform at the end of the for 2024. But can I assume that we have a similar, you know, division between first half and second half as last year? So that 45% in the first half production, 55% in the second, with a strong Q4. Is that a way I should think about your production profile?
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
Yeah, Tanya, that's a pretty good read on it. Maybe it's 46, 54, or something like that, but it's there or thereabouts. It's definitely a... As we've said on our guidance, it's gonna be increasing production through the year, strong finish to the year. So yeah, that's a fair read.
Greg Barnes (Head of Mining Equity Research)
And the copper as well?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yes.
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
Copper's a little more second half-weighted, relative to the gold.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. And then lastly, sorry, one more. Just some companies are seeing inflation pressures come back in steel and cyanide. Labor seems to have wind down. Is that what you're seeing as well? I'm just trying to understand what you're seeing in parts of the world you operate.
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
Yeah, yeah, that's relatively consistent. I wouldn't say we are seeing any continuing inflation. It's more a case of some of those key commodities, or like you mentioned, the steel balls, cyanide, explosives, where, you know, we've been trying to wrestle those prices back down to 2021 prices. So in a lot of other areas, we are back down to 2021 prices, but there are a few of those that have remained sticky, and we need to bring them down. It's not necessarily across the whole group. Tends to be more regional. So North America, we have more pressure than we do in other parts of the business. And then, as you say, labor is not the same pressure that there was a year or two ago.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay, great. Thank you so much. I'll leave it to someone else to ask, but appreciate you taking my questions.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah, I think just one thing on the labor in North America is, as you know, we've invested heavily in improving the skills of our workforce in Nevada, and we're starting to see those signs. And so the opportunity is to lift the. It's an expensive commodity, an absolutely critical asset. But. And our approach is. And the team's done exceptionally well in, you know, driving the skill base so that we can improve the efficiencies and offset the cost. And so that's been our focus over the last couple of years. Okay, next?
Operator (participant)
... The next question comes from Anita Soni with CIBC World Markets. Please go ahead.
Anita Soni (Managing Director, Research Analyst)
Good morning, Mark and team. So a few questions, mostly following on what Tanya was asking. So firstly, Lumwana, why were the grades that were processed so much lower than what was mined? Are you pulling from stockpiles, and when will that end?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Just hold on. I'll let Simon answer.
Simon Bottoms (EVP of Mineral Resource Management and Evaluation)
No, it's just a function of where we are in the pit. We're just outside the high-grade chutes, and so we're, with the stripping at the moment, we'll open up the higher grade later in the year, so.
Anita Soni (Managing Director, Research Analyst)
Yeah, I guess the question was, though, why not feed that directly to the mill? I thought the mined grades were much higher than the processed grade.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
No, I think the second, just to comment, the second half of the grade, to Simon's point, because of the schedule of mining, does lift up. And remember, we are building the base for a big expansion, and so we don't wanna end up, sort of, diving down on the ore body. We need to manage this as a long-term investment. And so, yeah. And we'll manage that as we go, including growing some of our stockpiles. But, you know, that's, that's what it is. It's gonna be a back, back weighted year in Lumwana particularly. And that's what drives the point that Graham pointed out, is the Lumwana, you know, much stronger back half of the year, in the copper side of our business.
Anita Soni (Managing Director, Research Analyst)
Okay, so then, moving to PV, you gave some disclosure around about the tons that would be expected over the course of the year. Can you give a little bit of color on what kind of grades? Is it pretty steady grades at 2.3 gram, or will that rise or fall over the course of the year?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah, 2, we've got, again, the second half of the year, and it, you know, this is. So the average grade for the year is about just over 2.4. So it puts it in perspective.
Anita Soni (Managing Director, Research Analyst)
Right. And then another very detailed question. At Turquoise Ridge, you mentioned the backfill situation. Is that... and how long will that take, to, you know, to put, to put right? I mean, it's obviously impacting the mining costs, underground mining costs, and, and I'm reading through maybe the autoclave process costs as well. But, I'm just wondering when those unit costs will start to trend down.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So we expect to be back up at plan, at the rolling plan, at the end of quarter three. But, you know, we're working now. We're ahead of the plan as far as backfill goes, catching up, and we will get close, but not quite on budget by the middle of the year, but quarter three will take us to that point.
Anita Soni (Managing Director, Research Analyst)
Okay. Then lastly, a similar question on Carlin. What can we expect in terms of, sort of, grade increases over the course of the year? I think that's another one where you said your grades were low in the first quarter and will rebound over the course of the year.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So grades are gonna be a little lower, and so they are lower in the first quarter, and I'll take you to the... So we're looking at a grade around 4.3 for the year. But it goes, you know, again, it's this, this is a very big mine. And so next quarter will be better grades, and then I think the following quarter is, again, a good grade, and then we have a back to sort of four grams on the quarter four. So it's a little bit bumpy, but on average, you know, there's ten to twenty thousand ounces different between H1 and H2.
And I, with Carlin's a big beast, it's, you know, you try and keep it as close to the running average as you can, and that's what it looks like on the profile.
Anita Soni (Managing Director, Research Analyst)
All right. Then last and final question. Any other mill maintenance shutdowns that we should be aware of over the course of the year?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah, we got the big shutdown with the Gold Quarry roaster in July, which is we tie in the expansion. And so post that, we will ramp up, and we're forecasting this year for that back end of the year. So the last half and one quarter, we'll be up at around somewhere between 15%-20% higher throughput in Gold Quarry roaster, depending how quickly we ramp it up. And that's a big shutdown we're putting in. We're upgrading the converter. We're doing a whole lot of extra stuff that's really been impacting our efficiencies there.
We expect to bring the cost down substantially on the back of that expansion, both because we got more throughput, but more importantly, because we've actually addressed some of the challenges within the ancillary equipment in that roaster.
Anita Soni (Managing Director, Research Analyst)
All right. Thank you. That's it for my questions. Thanks for taking them.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Thank you, Anita.
Operator (participant)
The next question comes from Josh Rales with RFI Associates. Please go ahead.
Josh Rales (Managing Partner)
Thank you. Good afternoon, Mark,
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Hi, Josh.
Josh Rales (Managing Partner)
I'm private ad... Can you hear me?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah, I can hear you perfectly. Thank you.
Josh Rales (Managing Partner)
Oh, terrific. I was wondering if you could comment on the Donlin deposit in Alaska. I heard a presentation by Thomas Kaplan, talking about the very high grades there and saying it's just an amazing resource and asset, and you haven't really said much about that. And does the higher gold price accelerate that potential in your mind? And then the second quick question is, you mentioned that you think Barrick is the cheapest gold, most undervalued gold company in the world, and I was wondering if you could point to a metric or two that you look at to reach that conclusion that you could share with us?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah, sure. So if you look at consensus on NAV multiples, we're under 1x. So depending on who you follow, it's around anywhere between 0.89x and 0.93x NAV. And of course, as the gold price goes above the consensus prices, as with the copper, and the copper is the real driver as well, that discount expands. So that's an easy answer. On Donlin, you know, we've always recognized it, as Tom does, a very large resource. It is refractory, so it's a Donlin in a very geographically challenged area. Not geopolitical, but geographical. So it's a Donlin deposit at 2.4, somewhere around there, grams a ton. So infrastructure is the challenge, and getting it to deliver a return that meets our investment criteria has been our focus.
And we've been working hand in glove with the NOVAGOLD team, really trying to sweat every line item in the capital schedule. And your final note, of course, you know, rising gold prices float these types of boats. So, you know, there will be a time when NOVAGOLD would be an investment, you know? So and that's our view. It's an inventory. It's part of our global inventory. It's a valuable asset in our inventory, and so, you know. And we've never said anything otherwise. So, yeah. Do you wanna say something, Graham?
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
No, you said NOVAGOLD, but you meant Donlin.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
I mean, Donlin.
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
Yeah.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah, but no, but NOVAGOLD is a, is the other part of Donlin.
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
Yeah, absolutely. But it's-
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Yeah.
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
You were referring to Donlin. It will be developed and it-
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
It will be developed, yes. [crosstalk]
Graham Shuttleworth (Senior EVP and CFO)
It is a valuable asset.
Josh Rales (Managing Partner)
Great, but not anytime soon. This is way out in the future.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
You try and predict the gold price. You know-
Josh Rales (Managing Partner)
If it-
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
... gold price is up 15%, it's up 30%, nearly 30%, in the last 18 months, so yeah.
Josh Rales (Managing Partner)
Does it work at these levels, if the gold price stays here?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
I think it's starting to get close, yeah.
Josh Rales (Managing Partner)
Terrific. Thank you. Appreciate all your hard work and commitment.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
The next question comes from John Tumazos with John Tumazos Very Independent Research. Please go ahead.
John Tumazos (Owner and CEO)
Thank you very much. In a similar vein, you have three or four potential projects in Chile, and copper has rebounded along with gold, as well as in Alaska, as well as the Fourmile and Dorothy and other extensions at Cortez and the Nevada Gold JV. As you evaluate these projects, do you assume that industry costs will rise half as much as the gold and copper prices, or will you estimate that three-quarters of the incremental revenue comes home to the project, or how, how do you evaluate these economics and the rising gold and copper price climate, Mark?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So, John, let me, let me answer that in sort of presenting a scenario. Go back to 2020, so 2008, 2006, with the run-up in the gold price from $450, it was in 2005, to about $1,000 in 2009 and $1,800 in 2011. And if you recall, very similar to the last 24 months, you've seen where the market has done some big deals, on a rapidly rising gold price and paid significant premium. And that's what happened then. The difference was everyone did it, because there were more majors than there are today. And then the gold price came off, and there was inflation from 2005.
From the time that China joined the global economy, it drove that inflation. You know, the oil price went up, everything went up. But the commodity prices routinely outperformed. So it wasn't like we've seen now, where we had inflation without the rising gold price and a big fill up at the—as we've witnessed over the last 18 months. So the question is... And sure, that marginality that you can make money on the margin is a real, has always traditionally been an attraction in the gold industry. But you know, you're the expert. The problem with the mining industry, it's taken that margin with the gold price to keep its shareholders believing that they're adding reserves, but they haven't really. So that's a challenge for our industry.
It's as equally, it's an equal challenge for the copper industry. And so what we have worked to position Barrick in is, is a contrarian to that approach, in that we've focused in on the right assets, we've invested in them, and we've made sure that we've replaced the gold we've mined with the same, same quality, reserve. And we do have that marginal flexibility because of our discipline on the $1,300 gold. So if you take some of our assets, not all of them, because a lot of them are constrained geologically within the 1,300 envelope, but there are some that have lower grade halos around the 1,300 envelope. So we take that. You know, when, when there's a high gold price, we'll take that because it comes in at a very similar margin because of the infrastructure.
So if you've got a $1,000 margin and you're developing the infrastructure on a 1,300 model, you can take marginal—marginal to our definition, not in anyone else's—gold on that basis, and it's good business. So we do that. We've done it. We did it back in 2011. We pushed back the Loulo pit and took a whole pile of high-grade, low-recovery ore, and it was. You know, and we could do that. So we do that, but. And you know, Donlin is a very different asset to Fourmile. Fourmile is a Tier One, world-class opportunity. And it'll make money in any gold price you can forecast realistically. It's a matter of banking it, which we do, again, diligently. We're not gonna take risk on that.
On the Chile side, you know, the copper prices certainly helped on Zaldívar. The Veladero mine is, I think we fixed that rather than got saved by the gold price. It's a gold mine, it's not a copper mine. Pascua-Lama, we are working on you know, a preliminary economic model for Pascua. It's also really a gold and silver mine, of which there's a big silver stream, as you know. But it, you know, it would. We don't hedge, so we would have to see. You know, we'd have to be. And we set our reserve gold price based on input costs. We don't set it against the spot gold price.
We'll exploit, if it makes sense, John, a high gold price in our mining plans, but we won't change our reserves on that basis. So for us, you know, the opportunities for us are the expansion in Liwale, the whole Carlin, the expansion in Turquoise Ridge, the Goldrush ramp-up, which is already there. There is an expansion opportunity more complex than in Fourmile. We've got some very exciting upside in Kibali and Loulo-Gounkoto. PV is about delivering 20 years, so any further additions is life rather than profile, and it's a, you know, it's a 800- to 1 million-ounce producer.
And then the real excitement is some of our copper plays in our new jurisdictions. As we go through this year, I'm confident we'll be able to share more with you as we grow it. We're still consolidating some of the titles in those areas. And then, of course, the gold play and you know our very solid relationships in Zambia and DRC offer us significant opportunities again, which we're, you know, we're cautiously optimistic we're gonna grow those positions. I hope that answers your question.
John Tumazos (Owner and CEO)
Oh, that's great, Mark. Some of your projects have been in hand over 10 years, and they're rigorously analyzed and engineered by Barrick. If, for example, Fourmile is at the head of the pack or something else is at the head of the pack, and there's other companies that don't have enough projects and are willing to pay premiums, would you let somebody pay you a premium and buy one of your projects from you, and pay you $1 billion or more?
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
So we would be very happy to sell somebody, an asset if they're gonna pay us more than we think it's worth. But our business fundamentally is mining. And as you see, if you take Loulo, we started at 1 million ounces, it's now got what? 7, Simon, 7 million of reserves still today after more than 10 years of mining, so, 2005, so that's 15-22 years of mining. So we, you know, when you're in these Tier One jurisdictions with these big assets, they last for a long time, and we're in that. You know, we're, Nevada is a, is a exciting place. You know, if, when you find assets in Nevada, like, like, like, Fourmile, they are massive assets. So, you know, we're not in this game for the short term.
It's a long game, and it's been good for our shareholders over time. You know, I think if you look at the Randgold shareholders, they've done very well out of this deal. If you look at the Barrick shareholders, they've got-- we've still got some work to do to deliver them, you know, value, those that are still in from back in in 2018. And but we are building a great company with, you know, capable of delivering value. And we've paid a lot of dividends out and, and other capital returns to our shareholders already while we fixed the business.
John Tumazos (Owner and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
There are currently no more questions from the conference call.
Mark Bristow (President and CEO)
All right. Well, thank you very much, everyone. Appreciate the questions, and thank you again for those who came to join us on a one-on-one basis. And we're, as you know, always available to take questions going forward. We look forward to talking to you again, and we are having an analyst visit into our Kibali and Tanzania mines starting on Monday. We'll be releasing the presentations and that on the website, so I urge you to follow the trip virtually, and we're always available to help you out if you've got any questions. Thanks again.
Operator (participant)
This concludes today's event. Should you have additional questions, please contact the Barrick Investor Relations Department. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.