Gold.com, Inc. Q4 FY2024 Earnings Call

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Barrick Gold Corporation's Results Presentation for the Fourth 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. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. We will also be taking questions from the room. As a reminder, this event is being recorded and a replay will be available on Barrick Gold Corporation's website during December 2025. I would now like to turn you over to Mark Bristow, President and CEO of Barrick Gold Corporation. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you very much, and very good morning and good afternoon to everyone here today. For those that are on the call, thank you for joining us today. At Barrick Gold Corporation, we are focused on delivering sustainable long-term value by owning the best gold and copper assets managed by the best people. Every quarter, we are getting closer to achieving our goal. With gold becoming more important as a safe haven in a geopolitically uncertain world, and copper being as strategic as gold is precious. I plan to show you how we are adding value and building capacity in both metals without taking an excessive amount of debt on or issuing new shares. It's an exciting time to be a gold and copper miner, with more upside in the commodity price, in my opinion anyway. It's been a transformative year for Barrick Gold Corporation, where we have invested heavily in our people and our assets, and we feel that we've reached a pivotal point that will add impetus to our strong growth trajectory. Above all, is our unwavering commitment to sustainability enabling our vision to not only be the best gold and copper producer in the world but also one that people will want to own. This is our customary cautionary notice regarding forward-looking statements which you can read at your leisure on our website. Moving to our group highlights, it's great to see all the arrows once again pointing in the right direction. We saw EBITDA increase 30% and EBITDA margins grow both quarter on quarter and for the year. Thanks to a strong performance in the last quarter, we met our 2024 guidance. Adjusted net earnings per share grew 50% year on year to $1.26. The quarterly dividend was maintained at $0.10 per share, and we repurchased an additional $354 million of our own shares in quarter four, taking the total for the year to almost $500 million. We also continued our exceptional track record in reserve replacement for both gold and copper, adding substantial new reserves from La Moana and Riccardeck. In addition to replacing 12.7 million ounces of gold and 13 million tons of copper reserves from those two projects, which is, to put it in perspective, equal to 73 million ounces of gold on a gold equivalent basis. Quarter on quarter, gold production from our mines increased 15%, with a 3% reduction in cost of sales and a 5% decrease in total cash costs, driven by our focus on cost efficiencies. Nevada played a key role in this performance with a significant throughput and production boost as it delivered on guidance. On the copper side, La Moana posted a quarterly production record, and on a group attributable basis, we achieved production guidance for both copper and gold. Turning to the financial results, some of which I've already touched on, we achieved the highest net earnings in a decade. Operating cash flow for the quarter was up 18% to $1.4 billion, taking the total for the year to $4.5 billion, the highest we've achieved since 2020. This strong performance led to a 104% increase in full-year free cash flow to $1.3 billion for 2024. Strong cash flow supported $500 million of share buybacks on top of $700 million in dividends, which kept net debt in line at just over $650 million. Safety and our journey to zero remained our top priority. Unfortunately, as we have already reported, we had three fatalities in 2024, which is unacceptable. We ended the quarter with significant improvement in the lagging indicators when compared to the same period last year. What was particularly encouraging was the increase in critical control verifications conducted at the sites, as well as the number of actions closed out after high-potential incidents, both of which represented our focus on leading indicators. This improved performance meant that we achieved our improvement goals for the group. Additionally, there were no class one environmental incidents, and we again achieved an industry-leading water use efficiency rate of 85%. We continued to integrate our holistic mine closure strategy across the group and drive long-term value creation. Most notably, we exceeded our group concurrent rehabilitation target for the second consecutive year and put seven of our old tailings storage facilities into safe closure, targeting a further five this year. Starting our operational review with North America, which, as a reminder, accounts for 47% of our total attributable gold production and is Barrick Gold Corporation's value foundation. The new leadership team has settled in well, focusing on the key metrics we identified for improvement in Nevada, including efficiencies, agility, profitability, and growth. We've identified several growth opportunities including both brownfields and the new Four Mile project, which we'll discuss further later. Moving to the summary of the results, the numbers speak for themselves. We anticipated an improvement in production and costs driven by a strong quarter four performance across the complex, particularly from our three tier-one assets. As mentioned, Four Mile is one of the most exciting new gold opportunities. The team has done excellent work to move that project to a prefeasibility study. We are allocating $78 million for the 2025 year to begin the prefeasibility study work, which we expect will take about three years to complete. In terms of mineral resources, there's been a significant improvement in the 2024 economic assessment, as highlighted at our November Capital Markets Day. This project is essentially an extension of Gold Rush, with much larger ore bodies nearly double the grade, making it a highly promising opportunity. We'll continue to share updates on this project as we move forward with the prefeasibility study throughout the year. In addition to Four Mile, we are continuing to expand our significant brownfields portfolio in Nevada. At Carlin, the greater legal area holds substantial potential for further discovery and depletion replacement. While at Cortez, we have the Hansen extension within the Cortez Hills underground mine, which remains open in all directions. We're also advancing greenfields work with drilling at Swift and in the basin near the gold quarry deposit, confirming large alteration systems undercover. At Turquoise Ridge, we're upgrading the model and have recently defined several new near mine targets to be tested in the coming months. Looking at North America as a whole, we're continuing our work in Canada, focusing on southern superior with drilling progressing at both the Norris and Patrice projects. We're also expanding our footprint in priority belts across the western United States for both gold and copper assets, which includes the ongoing consolidation of an exciting portfolio in Western Nevada. Moving now to Latin America and the Asia Pacific region, which accounts for 17% of our gold production and 21% of our production overall, boasting two key growth stories. The Pueblo Viejo expansion is making good progress, with the bankable feasibility study at Riccardeck now complete and having received conditional approval from the board to proceed yesterday. It's also worth highlighting the performance at Valadero, which delivered its best production results in the last five years. Gold production at Pueblo Viejo remained relatively stable with an improvement throughout the year in recovery rates reaching 80% by year-end as forecasted. Pueblo Viejo is making good progress towards its goal of becoming a low-cost, long-life, plus 800,000-ounce gold producer. Ongoing work includes 35 days of planned downtime this quarter for throughput improvement projects, with additional shutdowns expected in quarter four to further improve recoveries. We're also advancing the El Niro tailings storage facility, an important infrastructure project to support the mine's life extension. Looking ahead, we are focusing on a step-up improvement in throughput and recovery based on those plant improvements and upgrades. I refer to in the previous slide. We expect to be in the mid-600,000 ounces for this year, with a target of exceeding 800,000 ounces next year. You can see some updates as we move forward with our ongoing resettlement of affected households for the development of the state tailing storage facility. This resettlement, which aligns with international best practices and standards, will ensure that those affected by the project have the same, if not better, living conditions, and we believe it will be better with clean running water and electricity supplied to each house at the host site. This will, along with the livelihood restoration plan and access to education facilities, allow the families being resettled to build a better future together. The first families will be relocated in the next few weeks. On the exploration front, we've refocused our entire portfolio across LatAm and Asia Pacific targeting a series of new tier-one level opportunities in the region. The most advanced projects are in Peru. At Leballela, we are drilling multiple targets in Koroporo, which is a poultry project currently progressing through permitting. Additionally, we are actively evaluating our first set of early-stage properties in Ecuador. Within Ecuador, with six prospects currently under review, all of which are promising. Rick O'Deck gets more exciting day by day with the feasibility study now completed and our focus shifting to early works, project start-up, and wrapping up the funding. The project is structured in two phases, with the total estimated budget for phase one at approximately $5.6 to $6 billion. This mine is set to become one of the lowest-cost copper producers in the world, sitting well below $1 per pound after gold credits. Free cash flow is estimated at around $74 billion over 36 years, excluding taxes payable to the governments of Pakistan and Balochistan. Further details are outlined in the table on the left of this slide, and we expect to publish the full 43-101 Report next week. Our limited recourse project finance discussions with a potential lending group comprised of multilateral export and import finance agencies are well advanced, and we are targeting to sign this early in the third quarter. Subject to the financing, yesterday, our board conditionally approved to go ahead with the project, with first production targeted by the end of 2028. Just as a reminder, it's worth pointing out that the bankable feasibility study focuses only on four porphyry deposits, three of which are part of what we call the Western porphyries, alongside the Tangil deposit, as shown on this slide. It's important to note that the current bankable feasibility study is solely on reserves associated with these four porphyry deposits; however, there is significant potential beyond that. In total, there are 14 identified porphyry bodies within the mining and exploration license owned by Ricardek Mining Company. Geologists are currently actively evaluating these other bodies, which will certainly influence future life of mine plans and reserve and resource estimates. There's substantial upside, and while the feasibility study assumes a 36-year mine life based on reserves, all indications suggest the mine could still be operating through the rest of the century. Moving to Africa and the Middle East, these regions contributed 38% of our attributable gold production and 79% of our copper in 2024. Like Ricardek, the Super Pit expansion at La Moana is close to being fully permitted, and the feasibility study is now complete. We've appointed our engineering partners and finalized the environmental and social impact studies for which we've now received the permit. We are also on track with early works design and long lead item fabrication. This highlights the big advantage of emerging markets, where large expansions and new projects can be completed much more quickly than in the developed world. In addition to the work at La Moana, last week, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zambian government, forming a strategic partnership to drive mining and exploration in Zambia. This collaboration aligns with Zambia's vision to increase annual copper production to 30 million tons in the coming decades. Starting with Lulu Goncoto, in spite of the challenges we are currently experiencing in Mali, production increased by 80% in the fourth quarter, exceeding guidance for the year. Gold sales were down significantly due to the restrictions placed on exports by the Malian government. In addition to export restrictions, we face the unjust incarceration of some of our team members, which is a difficult situation to navigate. We are actively engaged with the administration to secure their release and a sustainable solution moving forward, so we can restart operations. This situation has led us to file for exit arbitration to assert our rights, but at the same time, we remain engaged and hope to continue making progress, albeit slowly. Our goal is to reach a lasting solution that brings benefits to Mali while ensuring fairness and supporting the long-term viability of this world-class operation, crucial to the country's economy and all its stakeholders. I thought it would be worth putting a few points into perspective. At times, there has been a lot of misinformation about the benefits that Mali has received from the development of these assets. Since 2005, we have contributed more than $3.2 billion to the Malian Treasury in the form of dividends, royalties, and taxes. More recently, in the past two years alone, we contributed $400 million in 2023 to the Malian Treasury and $460 million in 2024. Had the mine not been forced into temporary suspension, we were on track to contribute more than $550 million in 2025 at current gold prices. Beyond our financial contributions, our focus has always been on long-term growth to sustain those benefits for Mali and its people. Since 2005, we have produced nearly 10.5 million ounces of gold and have added more than 15 million ounces to reserves, extending the mine's life to 2041. More importantly, we have built and developed local talent. Today, Malians are operating across our global business, including in Nevada, and their expertise is a key reason why these assets continue to succeed. The talent extends beyond our workforce. We have helped develop Malian businesses that have pioneered growth in the mining sector, some of which have expanded beyond Mali. From specialized mining contractors to fuel and consumable suppliers, the economic multiplier effect of mining is immense, creating opportunities far beyond the mine itself. Now crossing over to the DRC. Kabali, the biggest gold mine in Africa and one of the most automated in the world, had a much improved quarter as we worked to address some operational challenges that plagued the mine for most of the 2024 calendar year. While it took longer than expected, those issues are now behind us. Kabali is a great low-cost mine with a long life and significant opportunities within its mining lease. Production increased quarter on quarter, and sustaining costs were well controlled. We're confident that Kabali will show significant improvement across the board during 2025. The new solar plant and battery storage system are planned for commissioning at the end of quarter two of this year, increasing the availability of renewable energy from 81% to 85%. In the next six months, we will generate electricity with zero carbon emissions. In Tanzania, North Mara was a standout performer across all metrics, serving as a great example of what can be achieved when the right management team is in place and operating to our standards. Production was up 20% quarter on quarter on the back of higher grades and higher throughput. At Bully and Hulu, we've seen significant improvements as we continue to increase the scale of the operation. North Mara's life of mine has been sustained beyond ten years, and Bully and Hulu's life is well over twenty years. We'll dive into exploration details a little later. In Zapier, Al Amano Kapaman delivered a stellar performance. A record quarterly production brought the mine back into guidance and delivered a significant improvement in costs, ensuring a successful end to 2024. Many of the feasibility study assumptions for the super pit expansion have now been proven in the operation, the details of which are summarized on the next slide. The image on the left shows the super pit alongside a summary of the feasibility study results on the right. This is a standout project, and it's important to put it into perspective. Barrick Gold Corporation acquired the mine in 2011; it was unprofitable and resulted in a $5 billion write-down. In the past five years, a focus on cost discipline and exploration has significantly added reserves, extending the life of the mine by more than twenty years. Today, the mine is sustainably profitable and a pillar of our copper growth strategy. With the super pit expansion feasibility study completed, we are now moving forward with project development following board approval. The feasibility study clearly supports the value of this investment. Importantly, we can fund the super pit expansion as well as our share of Rickardek's development through our current and forecast cash flow facilities without needing to issue any new shares or take on additional debt. We are reducing outstanding share count by buying back our shares. I've already touched on the exploration opportunities in North and South America, and we continue to make significant progress in our Africa and Middle East regions as well. The region remains a consistent leader not only in meeting guidance but also in replacing the reserves we mine both in gold and copper. We are actively investing in our future, focusing on material brownfields opportunities in the arc target area just west of the KCD deposit in Kibali, while also pursuing new tier-one assets. Greenfield footprints are expanding, especially in Tanzania, Senegal, and new frontiers in the Arabian and Nubian shield. The recently signed MOU with Zambia also underscores our focus on expanding in the Central African copper belt. What truly sets Barrick Gold Corporation apart from the rest of the industry is our ability to replace what we mine. Since 2019, we have replaced more than 180% of the company's gold reserves depleted. Notably in 2024, we replaced the 4.6 million ounces of annual depletion at better grades before the addition of the Ricardek reserve base. This replacement was driven by the usual strong performance in Africa and the Middle East, with additional significant growth in Pueblo Viejo as a result of pit pushbacks unlocked by the additional TSF capacity in the new Narano tailings facility. The conversion of copper-gold resources in Rick O'Deck adds nearly 13 million ounces of gold reserves at 0.28 grams per ton on a 50% attributable basis, positioning Barrick to capitalize on copper fundamentals. We look to Ricardek's feasibility study which added 7.3 million tons of copper at 0.48% to attributable copper reserves. The La Moana Super Pit Expansion feasibility study added 5.5 million tons of copper reserves, resulting in a total project copper reserve of 8.3 million tons at 0.52%. This represents an addition of more than 20 million tons of copper reserves on a 100% basis since 2023. These results from the respective feasibility studies pave the way for Barrick Gold Corporation to position itself on the global stage of major copper producers alongside our existing world-class gold portfolio. Our consistent focus on asset quality, which through our integrated mineral resource management and exploration strategy, enables us to replace what we mine. Since the merger in 2019, we've added 111 million gold equivalent ounces to Barrick Gold Corporation's reserve base, all at a cost of just $10 per equivalent ounce. We are replacing what we have mined while delivering substantial value. By comparing this to the cost of recent M&A transactions in the industry, the value we have created through doing this is abundantly clear. On the back of this organic growth, we can forecast over 30% growth in gold equivalent ounces through the end of the decade. We are moving ahead with two key growth projects that will see capital increase over the next three years before returning to more normal levels. As production increases, we expect costs to reduce. As shared with you last year at our Investor Day, the value opportunity at Barrick Gold Corporation only continues to increase. The slide here shows consensus net asset values with market multiples applied, including a modest one-time multiplier for copper assets. You can see that the value for Nevada and the copper business together exceeds Barrick Gold Corporation's market capitalization, implying a negative value for the rest of Barrick Gold Corporation's tier-one, tier-two, and other strategic assets. These consensus values are significantly lower than our own internal valuations. We expect this to shift when we publish the technical studies for Lemona and Ricardek later this month. Regardless of how you analyze the portfolio, the current share price does not come close to reflecting the fair value of our asset base and our prospects. You'll also see our view reflected in our buyback activity this quarter, which you can expect to continue. To recap where Barrick Gold Corporation is headed today: I outlined earlier that we are targeting 30% growth on a gold equivalent ounce basis towards the end of the decade, bolted on to our current reserves. As I've shown you today, we will continue to replace and add to those reserves and resources, further supporting our growth. We have the balance sheet strength to fund our growth and continue to invest in our future without relying on the market. By any measure, Barrick Gold Corporation presents a standout value opportunity. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for listening, and we will be happy to take questions.

Hi. Good morning, Mark. Straight out of the block. First question, the reduction in CapEx. So you trimmed CapEx, I think, in November investor day, it was around $4 billion or $3.9 or so. And I believe it was about $1.5 in the copper side and $2.4 on the gold side. Now it's $3.1 to $3.6. Some of that's from Lulu, I assume, but where did the other trim come from?

Anita, it's Graham. The vast majority relates to Lulu. We've obviously excluded the production from our guidance and we've excluded the capital as well. There were some other small changes in Nevada, but really, it's all about Lulu.

What are the standby costs at Lulu, and where is that running through in the financials?

Right now, we've taken out all the gold in the circuit that we can. We're in a breakeven place today. We expect to continue to make progress on our conversations, and I'll just put this slide up. This is just an indication that if we start up early in March, that's the attributable portion of production. At this point, as disclosed in the MD&A, we aren't currently guiding for Lulu. Let's get it done and sorted. We've reallocated a lot of our experienced operators to other operations to ensure that they remain active and contribute to the company. We have quite a big staff on care and maintenance because there's a temporary care and maintenance process. It's not a full care and maintenance plan yet, and we expect to be able to bring that mine up and back into production very quickly. For us, that's the objective. I've been reluctant to get involved in a public negotiation with the Mali authorities, preferring to keep that at the level of principal. We'll keep you posted as we go.

Okay. And so that would mean that the outlook from 2027 through to 2029 assumes that Lulu restarts, right?

That's correct. It wouldn't be a good thing to lose Lulu, not for anyone's sake, particularly not for Mali's, but equally for us. We are long-standing partners in Mali. Every one of our operations is independently viable. Barrick Gold Corporation's balance sheet is very solid, so with or without Lulu, that won't change our long-term plan. Our five-year plan will just be slightly smaller, but fundamentally, we can easily support the projects and the capital commitments during that period. That's a very important point to underscore.

And my final question is regarding the PV relocation efforts. There have been a couple of press releases in the last two months about issues with a commission representing families that are hampering the process. Can you provide updates on how many families are yet to be relocated and the timeline for construction for that dam again?

We are looking at 2029 for completion. We're right in the middle of consulting, finalizing reimbursements and negotiating individual plans, particularly for those households that have cocoa plants, etc. The commission we referred to really represents themselves. They are a selfish group of people trying to hold the rest of the communities to ransom. With the help of the government, we mobilized security forces to access areas we need to do test work on the foundation of the starter wall. Once we were through, we were welcomed by the communities, and we continued the test work. We're currently evaluating each household, assessing the value of the house and other assets before agreeing on compensation for the houses. We have different sizes of homes built and continue that process. I can’t specify an exact percentage yet, but we're in that process now.

Thanks.

Mark, I just want to go back to Four Mile. You've talked about better grade mining conditions, but there's also discussion about the processing facilities. I'm curious about your comment regarding flexibility with roasters or autoclaves. How much do you see potentially going in each direction at the moment? I get it; there's more work to be done. Second question, I'm curious why there's a three-year PFS that looks like a pretty detailed PFS, and it may have something to do with what we discussed first. Lastly, can you comment on how the vent with Newmont works?

The joint venture provides us with the opportunity to put the project into the joint venture based on a predetermined valuation, which is a full market evaluation and not a bankable feasibility study evaluation. We are continuing to move towards that and are conducting a thorough evaluation. Last year, we did a preliminary evaluation to gauge the size, and it's important to note the mineralized fluids are breaking it, and they are much more competent geotechnically and are higher grade. The unit cost of mining will decrease because these are much larger ore bodies. If you take Four Mile and into the Nevada business model, you'd immediately change its valuation. We understand the potential value, so the next step is the prefeasibility study. With that necessary preliminary work on JioTech, we are gaining access from Bullion Dollyon Hill, enhancing the logistical cost of moving ore, even in Goldrush. It's about how we deal with our partners and Nevada Gold Mines to ensure we recognize this value and benefit from it, as our shareholders see the opportunity.

Mark, thanks for the presentation today. I’d like to come back to Mali, if you wouldn’t mind. In Q4, you paid out over a hundred million dollars and approximately $249 million in 2024 to continue advancing negotiations. Conceptually, is that a payment you would continue to have to make, and without revealing Barrick Gold Corporation's position on this—understanding the negotiation's sensitivity—can you give us a sense of what the Malian government is hoping to achieve?

I'm not sure you have the numbers right, just to clarify. We paid out about $84 million to the Malian government in October, which we believed was a one-off payment as we thought we had an agreement at that time. Subsequently, it did not transpire as such. There are two ex-employees advising the government, in our opinion, conflict with interests in many aspects. They are claiming that the mining industry did not fulfill its obligations, saying that it took out more than what Mali had earned. We have not done that and reaffirm our commitment to find a solution to these accusations. Our approach is straightforward as we can tackle these problems head-on. We're open and transparent about what we pay and what has been taken out. The government’s weight in negotiations has shifted over time due to ongoing investments aimed at extending the life of the mine.

The payment made to the Malian government at the beginning of October was $84 million and was considered a one-off payment, following the belief we had regarding an agreement, albeit that subsequently it didn't happen that way.

Our perspective has always been to find common ground. It's crucial not to load excessive costs through royalties or fees because that would shorten the life of the project. We engage openly with the Mali government, emphasizing a need for a cooperative solution that mutually benefits all stakeholders involved.

Thank you for the clarity. Beyond that discussion, there was news of a potential sale of your fifty percent interest in Zaldvar. I would assume that's not one of your strategic assets. Apart from that, in your portfolio, are there other assets that may not be strategic at this point?

Zaldvar is a significant focus for us right now, ensuring we get the permitting in place and maintain operational continuity. While it's not core since we don't operate it, we're prioritizing the current legacy issues and are committed to maximizing its value. We have other non-core assets that we continually assess, particularly as we ramp up two major projects. We have similar discussions regarding our investments in Papua New Guinea and other operations as we determine the best strategy moving forward.

My question is: are you still paying salaries in Lulu to employees? How does that work?

Yes, we are.

If you look at it as a proxy, if we go to a current maintenance environment, historical run rate would be about $10 million a month in holding costs, so that's a reference point.

Perfect. The reported cost of Puerto Rico was fourteen percent higher despite production only increasing five percent compared to the previous period. Are you talking about all-in sustaining cost? I think it was the reported cost.

The big driver in the cost in PV in quarter four was that we, as per the mine plan, had lower grades, impacting the unit costs. Our focus was on throughput and recovery during that period. We need to address the thickener and upgrade several de-slamming facilities, which are necessary to lift the throughput rate. We're targeting mid-600,000 ounces this year, with plans to exceed 800 next year.

Thank you. Phone participants, please pick up your handsets before pressing any keys. Our first question is from Josh Wolfson with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Thanks for taking my questions. We're looking at the production guidance for both twenty twenty-five and the five-year outlook. The numbers have changed versus what was issued in November even if we adjust for the impact of Mali. Is there any fundamental changes in how the assets are being evaluated or is this reflecting some conservatism versus the prior November budget?

It's important to recognize that when we shared the graphs in November, we provided directional information, and those aren't precise figures. Yes, we revise these from time to time, and the current changes reflect some adjustments within the business and some impacts like the slowdown in Lulu and changes across the rest of the portfolio.

Josh, we must meet our guidance and work carefully through to ensure we're focusing on a range we can deliver. It's essential to note that the takeaway here is a minimum of 30% growth out to 2029, and modeling the cash flow impacts shows what it means for the business moving forward.

One more question, if I can. Just on Recodeq, there have been articles about possible buyers for portions of the assets. Is there a status update that Barrick Gold Corporation can issue? If there isn’t a deal, what does the outlook look like for Pakistan to fund their portion of CapEx?

Currently, I don't see a risk of Pakistan funding their share, and they've been able to fund historically as well. We are strong partners in Saudi as well as Pakistan, and we hope for positive developments on the funding side.

Mark, Graham, can you hear me okay?

Hello, Daniel. I can hear you. Perfect.

Thanks for the question. Just a couple. On the buyback, Mark, you noted your intention to continue buying back stock, particularly in the fourth quarter. Can you give us any steer on the expected run rate? Is there a target, or will it be share price dependent?

We're managing a big capital program and cash flow, and we've seen higher commodity prices driving revenue. We will continue to buy back our shares when they are at low prices. But as always, we aim to ensure that we balance our decisions with capital requirements. Our run rate in Q4 was over a billion dollars a year, and we make those decisions daily.

Thanks. On your CapEx guidance, looking at $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion of project CapEx, can you share how much of that is allocated to La Moana and Ricardek?

Guiding approximately $1 billion of spending on Ricardek on a hundred percent basis, so our share would be half of that. For La Moana, regarding $0.6 billion of capital spend for 2025.

In La Moana, we are anticipating improvements in copper prices that also support financing, which makes those projects more affordable by the day. We are managing our net debt position effectively as we achieve these targets.

Thank you for taking my question, Mark. I’m working on ways to convince a shareholder from Agnico or Alamos to buy Barrick Gold Corporation shares instead. Here are three minor adjustments that may help. One, acquiring a couple of sub-billion-dollar exploration projects in Canada to shift part of your resource base there. Two, advancing Donlin Creek in Alaska. Three, having a corporate policy of reinvesting every penny from North American cash flow back into North America. Would any of these adjustments appeal to you, Mark?

Thanks, John. There’s merit in some of your suggestions; however, the world has changed significantly. We're invested in the U.S. and in exploration while looking across all highly prospective regions. This will hopefully drive investors our way, as we’ve shown strength and shareholder value.

I want to thank you and your team, Mark, for your long-term commitment to acquiring reserves at low costs while avoiding dilution of shareholders. I wanted to ask about the cost stabilization on the labor front, oil, and inputs, which seems to be enabling margins to increase. Do you see this trend continuing, allowing the generalist investor to be awakened to the rapidly increasing margins?

Yes, it’s critical to look at C1 costs and all-in sustaining costs, which still show a noticeable delta. We’ve started to manage that down, and with long-term investors coming back into the stock, we seem to find a better balance. Our focus is on making our assets bulletproof against cost increases. The current market dynamics remain fluid, but we see positive adjustment possibilities.

There are no more questions from the conference call.

Thank you for your time and for those who phoned in. Our team remains available for any follow-ups. We look forward to speaking with our shareholders in the next day or two. Thank you again for your time.

This concludes today's event. Should you have further questions, please contact Barrick Gold Corporation Investor Relations department. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.