(Reuters) -Barrick Mining beat profit expectations for the second quarter and raised its dividend by 50% on Monday, as record-high gold prices helped offset lower production and a $1.04 billion charge from losing control of its Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali.
The company declared a quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share, up from 10 cents in May.
Gold prices averaged $3,220.58 an ounce in the quarter, up 12% from the prior quarter and nearly 40% higher than a year earlier. The metal was buoyed by safe-haven demand as uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and geopolitical tensions stoked inflation concerns.
Barrick’s average realized gold price surged to $3,295 per ounce in the April-June quarter from $2,344 a year ago.
Still, its production decreased to 797,000 ounces in the quarter from 948,000 ounces a year earlier.
The company’s U.S. shares slid nearly 4% in morning trading, hit by a more than 1% drop in gold prices on Monday that also pulled down other miners. [GOL/]
Barrick was forced to suspend operations in mid-January after Mali’s military-led government blocked its exports for two months, detained some of its executives and seized three tons of bullion.
It also launched arbitration at the World Bank to try to resolve the dispute.
Barrick said the Loulo-Gounkoto mine-related loss was partly offset by a $745 million gain from selling its 50% stake in the Donlin Gold project.
Its all-in sustaining costs for gold, an industry metric reflecting total expenses, rose to $1,684 per ounce in the reported quarter from $1,498 per ounce.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned 47 cents per share in the second quarter, compared with analysts’ average expectation of 45 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
