Canadian miner Barrick Gold said on Wednesday that its fourth-quarter production rose 10% from the previous quarter, thanks to strong performance at its Carlin and Cortez mines in Nevada.
The price of gold rose 4 per cent in the quarter as concerns about inflation and a variant of the Omicron coronavirus underpinned gold's safe-haven appeal.
The company reported total initial gold production of 1.2 million ounces in the quarter ended December 31, compared with 109 million ounces in the previous quarter.
The Toronto-based miner said it produced 126 million pounds of copper in the quarter, up 26% from the previous quarter.
Barrick, which plans to report its fourth-quarter results on February 16, said it expected the total maintenance cost of gold, its key industry indicator, to fall 4-6 per cent from the third quarter.
Copper's AISC is expected to rise 11% to 13% from the previous quarter.
Barrick said its annual initial gold and copper production were 4.44 million ounces and 415 million pounds, respectively.
It had earlier forecast full-year gold production of 4.4 million to 4.7 million ounces and copper production of 410 million to 4.6 million pounds.
