Barrick holds its 2026 production forecasts as gold all-in sustaining costs rise 24 per cent from a year earlier
Thunder Bay ON – Mining News – Barrick Mining Corp. maintained its 2026 gold and copper production forecasts Monday even as its all-in sustaining cost for gold rose 24 per cent from a year earlier.
The Toronto-based company produced 816,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter, up three per cent from the previous quarter. It also produced 50,000 tonnes of copper.
Barrick reported US$5.07 billion in revenue, a 22 per cent increase from the same period last year. Net earnings were US$1.32 billion, or 80 cents per share, up one per cent. All figures in the company’s release were in U.S. dollars.
Gold all-in sustaining costs rose to US$1,911 per ounce from US$1,538 a year earlier. Barrick attributed the increase to lower grades, higher royalties tied to stronger gold prices, elevated diesel prices and higher sustaining capital spending.
Cost of sales for gold was US$1,950 per ounce, up from US$1,562. Total cash costs, a non-IFRS measure, rose to US$1,386 per ounce from US$1,137.
The company kept its full-year gold production guidance at 2.9 million to 3.25 million ounces and copper guidance at 190,000 to 220,000 tonnes. Its gold cost forecast also remained unchanged, including all-in sustaining costs of US$1,760 to US$1,950 per ounce.
The guidance uses a gold price assumption of US$4,500 per ounce and a West Texas Intermediate oil price of US$70 a barrel. Barrick estimated that every US$10 change in the oil price changes diesel-related gold costs by about US$12 an ounce and copper costs by about four cents a pound.
That sensitivity is relevant to Canadian miners and suppliers even though Barrick’s operating portfolio is largely outside Canada. Diesel, consumables, skilled labour and sustaining capital are common cost pressures across remote mining districts, including Northern Ontario. Barrick’s figures are not a direct forecast for other companies, but they provide a large-producer benchmark for the pressure that can sit beneath high metal prices.
Barrick reduced expected attributable capital spending for 2026 to US$3.8 billion to US$4.2 billion from US$4 billion to US$4.45 billion. The company said the change mainly reflected lower anticipated spending at the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan, which remains under review.
At the Lumwana copper expansion in Zambia, Barrick said long-lead equipment had been procured and the project remained on budget and on schedule for first copper at the end of the first quarter of 2028. At Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, temporary water-management structures for the Naranjo tailings project were more than 20 per cent complete.
Barrick also repurchased US$761 million of shares during the quarter and declared a quarterly dividend of 17.5 cents per share. The company said it ended the quarter with US$900 million in net cash.
The company’s results contain forward-looking references to a proposed initial public offering of an entity that would hold Barrick’s North American assets, but the release did not set a completion date. That proposal, the Reko Diq review and fourth-quarter cost performance remain key files for investors and mining contractors.
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| META | Barrick holds its 2026 production forecasts as gold all-in sustaining costs rise 24 per cent from a year earlier. |
Source notes
- Barrick Q3 2026 results – issuer release dated Nov. 9, 2026; released before markets at 6 a.m. ET and verified by 5:48 a.m. ET Nov. 10
- Barrick quarterly reports page – Q3 release, MD&A, financial statements and mine statistics posted Nov. 9, 2026; checked Nov. 10 before 5:48 a.m. ET
