Barrick’s push into copper broadens its appeal

Article Excerpt

Barrick has moved up recently, along with gold prices—now hitting new all-time highs. Meanwhile, it aims to add to its appeal by continuing to diversify into copper mining; longer term, the outlook for the red metal looks positive. Barrick is a Power Buy. BARRICK GOLD, $28.41 is a buy. The miner (Toronto symbol ABX; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (www.barrick.com; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $48.9 billion; Dividend yield: 2.0%) is the second-largest gold producer in the world after Newmont Corp. (symbol NEM on New York). Barrick is now considering dropping gold from its name and rebranding to Barrick Mining to reflect its push into copper operations. Meanwhile, the company is currently making progress on its portfolio of growth projects and towards a planned 30% increase in production of gold equivalent ounces by the end of 2030. That includes the recent completion of feasibility studies for Reko Diq (in Pakistan), one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits, and the Lumwana Expansion project (in Zambia). Lumwana is set to become…