Description
Barrick Gold Corporation is a mining company that produces gold and copper with 16 operating sites in 13 countries. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has mining operations in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Mali, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, the United States and Zambia. In 2019, it produced 5.5 million ounces of gold at all-in sustaining costs of $894/ounce and 432 million pounds of copper at all-in sustaining costs of $2.52/pound. As of December 31, 2019, the company had 71 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves.
Barrick had been the world's largest gold mining company until Newmont Corporation acquired Goldcorp in 2019. Barrick expects to produce between 4.6 to five million ounces of gold and between 440 to 500 million pounds of copper in 2020.
Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it purchased $562 million in shares of Barrick during the second quarter of 2020, immediately making it the eleventh-largest shareholder in the company. The new position is 20.9 million shares, which is 1.2% of the company's outstanding stock. Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett and his key business partner Charlie Munger have a history of dismissing gold as an attractive investment, saying a fine business run by good managers with cash flows and paying dividends is more productive than the precious metal. Buffett has previously said owning shares of quality companies is more valuable than owning gold itself.
