Barrick gets go ahead for Goldrush mine ramp-up 

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) said on Monday the US Bureau of Land Management has approved the company’s plan of operations for its Goldrush underground mine at the Cortez Complex near Beowawe, Nev.

The gold mine, run by Barrick’s JV with Newmont (NYSE: NEM) Nevada Gold Mines (NGM), is expected to start ramping up production in 2024 after the initial infrastructure is commissioned. 

The mine is expected to generate 130,000 oz. of gold in 2024 and grow to about 400,000 oz. of the precious metal per year by 2028.

Barrick, the world’s second-largest gold miner, operates NGM, which is the world’s largest gold mining complex. It has a 61.5% stake in the business, with Newmont, the world’s largest gold producer, holding the remaining 38.5%.

The Toronto-based miner and NGM have invested more than US$370 million in the project to date and they anticipate spending a total of nearly US$1 billion (100% basis) to get to planned production. 

Barrick president and CEO Mark Bristow said the addition of Goldrush would expand an asset base that already hosts three Tier One mines and has potential for continuing growth. Tier One mines are “company making” operations, which are also generally large with a long productive life at low costs.

The U.S. government’s approval follows a multi-year consultation and independent impacts analysis process pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, which included specialist environmental studies. In the course of the analyses, all stakeholders were given the opportunity to engage with NGM and contribute to the outcome.

It is anticipated that Goldrush will create around 500 jobs during construction and 570 new jobs during operations. It will also generate hundreds of millions of dollars in net proceeds tax and gold and silver excise taxes, the latter of which are earmarked for education in Nevada, Barrick said.

The Goldrush development is a positive step for Barrick’s plans for its adjacent Fourmile deposit, which is not part of the NGM joint venture. The gold giant unveiled in September details from a conceptual preliminary economic assessment on the project in which it envisioned production of 300,000-400,000 oz. of gold per year grading more than 10 grams gold per tonne, for more than 15 years.

Under the NGM JV agreement, Barrick can access Fourmile from Goldrush for exploration and once the project reaches specific commercial milestones, Barrick has the right to integrate it into NGM. At that point, Newmont will need to either pay or dilute its NGM ownership position.

News of the U.S. government approval for Barrick’s plans about the Goldrush mine comes on the heels of the company announcing that its Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG) will resume operations later this month. Gold production will follow in the first quarter of 2024.

The mine was placed on care and maintenance in April 2020 following a dispute over benefit-sharing terms between the government, local people and Barrick.

“It’s been a long journey but in the process we have secured the buy-in of all the stakeholders and we look forward to steering the mine back to world-class production,” Bristow said. “It undoubtedly has the potential to join our Tier One gold mine portfolio, the largest of its kind in the industry.”

The New Porgera Ltd. (NPL), a JV between the gold giant and PNG stakeholders, was granted a special mining lease by the island country’s governor general in October. clearing the way for the 700,000-ounce-per-year operation to return to production.