Kibali on track to achieve 2021 production target – Barrick CEO
After a strong start in the first quarter of 2021, the Kibali gold mine, one of the largest in the world, remained on track at the halfway mark of the year to achieve its annual production guidance, Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow said today.
Speaking at a media briefing, Bristow added that thanks to an aggressive near-mine exploration program, Kibali was continuing to replace its reserves faster than it was mining them, and now has a resource base that is approaching the 2013 levels when the mine first went into production.
“This means that Kibali should be able to sustain its production rate well beyond the 10-year timetable in its current business plan, thus continuing to create economic benefits for its stakeholders in a region where its presence has already had a profoundly positive impact,” he said.
He said Barrick’s success in building and operating a world-class gold mine in a remote part of the Congo was attributable to the mutually beneficial partnerships it had forged with its in-country stakeholders: the central, provincial and local governments; its host community; civil society; and a large corps of highly competent contractors and suppliers.
“We are strengthening our ties with the recently appointed government and are working towards an amicable solution of some outstanding legal and fiscal issues,” Bristow said.
“In the meantime, Barrick continues to invest and re-invest in our future in the DRC. Our short-term focus is on ensuring that Kibali will remain a major generator of economic benefits for all its stakeholders well into the next decade. Beyond that, our exploration teams are already hunting for the next Kibali. Their success rate in finding world-class gold deposits is outstanding,” concluded Bristow.
The Kibali gold mine is located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, approximately 220 kilometres east of the capital of the Haut Uele province, Isiro, 150 kilometres west of the Ugandan border town of Arua and 1,800 kilometres from the Kenyan port of Mombasa. The mine is owned by Kibali Goldmines SA, which is a joint venture company effectively owned 45% by each of Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti, and 10% by Société Miniére de Kilo-Moto (SOKIMO). The mine is operated by Barrick.
