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In the three months to September 30, Barrick Gold Corporation’s Africa region recorded the largest quarter-on-quarter production increase among all the company’s operating regions. This strong performance, coupled with lower costs across the board, resulted in a 65% quarter-on-quarter rise in attributable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).
The Africa region not only delivered the highest year-to-date gold output, but also achieved the lowest realised costs, driving a significant leap in EBITDA and a substantial increase in free cash flow. Gold production in Africa rose by 8%, mainly due to a 15% increase at the Kibali Gold Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Barrick’s third-quarter results highlight that higher mining volumes and grades uplifted Kibali’s processing performance as the operation heads into what is expected to be a strong fourth quarter.
Kibali’s cost of sales declined by 5%, while total cash costs fell by 7% compared with the second quarter. In Tanzania, production at North Mara increased by 3%, with both underground and open-pit operations exceeding expectations. Overall, the Africa region remains on track to meet its full-year production guidance. On the copper front, Barrick’s Lumwana Mine in Zambia continues to self-fund its significant expansion project, which is expected to remain self-sustaining throughout 2025. The expansion, currently ahead of schedule, underpins Barrick’s long-term copper growth strategy in Africa.
Although a planned third-quarter shutdown led to a 7% decline in copper production for the period, Lumwana remains on course to meet full-year targets.“We expect Q4 copper production to be similar to Q2, delivering annual results within guidance. Barrick is in a good position to deliver on our plans for the year,” said Barrick Chief Operations Officer and Interim President and CEO Mark Hill, during the quarterly results presentation.
Hill assumed leadership on 29 September 2025, following the departure of former Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow.He noted that gold production is tracking within the lower half of guidance, while copper production remains at the midpoint.“The gold production guidance includes Tongon and Hemlo, which we expect to conclude before year-end. After adjusting for the higher year-to-date gold price, our total cash costs remain within guidance. Copper costs are already within range, and we expect Lumwana to deliver a strong finish to the year,” added Hill.
During the quarter, the New York- and Toronto-listed miner reported $4.1 billion in revenue, record operating cash flow of $2.4 billion, and free cash flow of $1.5 billion.Responding to questions about the potential sale of Barrick’s Mali gold assets, Hill emphasised that his immediate focus is securing the release of four employees, including a regional manager, who have been detained in Mali since November 2023. “My focus is on getting these four people out of jail. They’ve been incarcerated for 11 months now. Once that’s resolved, we’ll consider restarting operations. We still have staff on-site conducting care and maintenance, so resuming operations is possible but first, we need our people back,” stressed Hill.
Mali has been military-led since a 2020 coup and in June 2024, the government seized Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex, appointing a provisional administrator for six months after months of export restrictions.According to Reuters, the Malian government has revoked more than 90 mining exploration permits including those held by subsidiaries of international mining companies such as IAMGOLD, Cora Gold, Birimian Gold and Resolute Mining. A decree signed by Mines Minister Amadou Keita on 13 October 2025 cancelled exploration permits issued between 2015 and 2022 for various minerals including gold, iron ore, bauxite, uranium, rare earths and other resources.
