Barrick Mining Corporation (NYSE: B) (TSX: ABX) said on Monday its third-quarter adjusted earnings rose 41% to 82 cents a share, ahead of analysts' expectations, as a higher realized gold price outweighed slightly lower output and rising costs. Revenue rose 22% from a year earlier to $5.07 billion, and the Toronto-based miner kept its 2026 gold production forecast unchanged.
The gap between gold prices and mining costs stayed wide. Barrick's realized gold price rose 23% to $4,243 an ounce, while all-in sustaining costs, an industry measure that adds sustaining capital and overhead to cash production costs, rose 24% to $1,911 an ounce. The company blamed lower grades, higher royalties tied to gold prices and elevated diesel prices.
The quarter marks a year since new leadership took over in October 2025. "Twelve months ago, we set out to earn back trust and restore Barrick to its history of discipline and excellence," Mark Hill, President and CEO, said in the earnings release.
Hill told analysts on a conference call that full-year gold output would land "around the midpoint or slightly above" the guidance range of 2.9 million to 3.25 million ounces. He cautioned that "you should not be extrapolating that going forward," and said 2027 guidance would come next year.
Net earnings rose 1% to $1.32 billion, or 80 cents a share. Adjusted earnings exclude certain items, including a gain of about $102 million, mainly from the sale of Barrick's stake in the Bambadji project in Senegal, and $104 million of other expenses, largely related to Mali, as well as tax and other adjustments.
#Weather at Veladero and Porgera Offsets Gains at Nevada and Mali Mines
Gold production was 816,000 ounces, up 3% from the second quarter but 2% below a year earlier, when output included the since-sold Hemlo and Tongon mines. Excluding those assets, production rose 6%. Barrick said extreme weather at Veladero in Argentina and delayed access to higher-grade ore at North Mara in Tanzania held output back, and it expects to reach that ore in the fourth quarter.
Seb Bock, who heads the Barrick International unit, told analysts that severe winter storms suspended operations at Veladero several times, while drought-related water shortages at Porgera in Papua New Guinea limited plant operating rates. He said those conditions continued into early in the fourth quarter.
Other mines made up part of the shortfall. Carlin's Gold Quarry roaster, which heats hard-to-process ore so the gold can be recovered, set a quarterly throughput record. The Goldrush ramp-up lifted output at Cortez in Nevada, and Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali produced 16% more than in the second quarter.
Barrick operates mines and projects in 17 countries and describes itself as the largest gold producer in the United States.
Copper output fell 9% from a year earlier and 11% from the second quarter to 50,000 tonnes, following a planned mill reline at Lumwana in Zambia. Copper all-in sustaining costs were $4.52 a pound, against full-year guidance of $3.45 to $3.75. Bock said he expects full-year copper costs around the top end of the range because of diesel and currency pressures.
#Barrick Returns $1.04 Billion and Plans IPO Filing This Month
Barrick returned $1.04 billion to shareholders in the quarter through $761 million of share buybacks and its quarterly dividend of 17.5 cents a share. It ended September with net cash of $0.9 billion, up from $0.3 billion a year earlier.
"We produced a strong set of financial results this quarter, with solid operational execution allowing us to capture more of the favorable gold and copper prices," Helen Cai, Senior EVP and CFO, told analysts on the call.
Cash generation was softer. Free cash flow fell 21% to $1.17 billion as capital spending rose 40% to $1.32 billion. Attributable free cash flow, Barrick's share after partners, fell 44% to $642 million, below the amount returned to shareholders in the quarter.
Hill said Barrick plans to file a registration statement this month for the initial public offering of its North American gold assets, along with technical reports for Nevada Gold Mines and Pueblo Viejo. He said the company is still aiming to complete the listing this year, though it may slide into January. Barrick has said the IPO is subject to market conditions and regulatory review.
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#Lumwana Copper Expansion Stays on $2 Billion Budget
The Lumwana expansion, which Barrick expects to double copper output to 240,000 tonnes a year, remains on budget at $2 billion and on schedule for first copper at the end of the first quarter of 2028. Barrick has spent $795 million on it so far.
At Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, Barrick expects to submit the full permit package for a new tailings dam, which stores processed waste, in the first quarter of 2027. The company earlier cut 2026 attributable capital spending guidance to $3.8 billion to $4.2 billion, mainly reflecting lower spending at the Reko Diq project in Pakistan, which is under review.
Barrick's 2026 guidance assumes a gold price of $4,500 an ounce, above the third-quarter market average of $4,262. The company estimates each $100 change in the gold price shifts attributable EBITDA by about $270 million. It also flags permitting, political risk in some jurisdictions and the proposed IPO among the risks to its plans.
Management expects fourth-quarter gold production to be slightly higher than the third quarter and full-year costs to stay within guidance, though diesel prices, local currency strength, higher royalties and weather at Veladero and Porgera remain key risks to that outlook.