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Copper production came in at the bottom of its guidance of between 420 million and 470 million pounds.

Chief executive Mark Bristow said in a press release that despite picking up the pace in the latter half of the year, Barrick couldn’t quite make up for the challenges it faced in the first half.

For 2024, Barrick says it expects to produce between 3.9 million and 4.3 million ounces of gold.

The miner is still on track for longer-term production growth, said Bristow.

"We have sustained our industry-leading organic growth outlook and are still projecting a 30 per cent increase in gold equivalent production by the end of this decade."

Last year's production translated into a profit attributable to equity holders of US$1.27 billion for 2023, up from US$432 million a year earlier.

The gold miner, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the profit amounted to 72 cents US per share for the year, up from 24 cents US per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Barrick says it earned 84 cents US per share for 2023, up from an adjusted profit of 75 cents US per share in 2022.

Revenue for 2023 totalled US$11.40 billion, up from US$11.01 billion in 2022.

The increase came as the miner's realized gold price rose to US$1,948 per ounce for the year, up from US$1,795 per ounce in 2022, while its realized copper price held steady at US$3.85 per pound.

Barrick also announced a new share buyback program to repurchase up to $1 billion of outstanding shares. Last year, the company did not repurchase any shares in its program, while in 2022, it bought back $424 million in shares.

This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published Feb. 14, 2024.

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