The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition Barrick Gold may idle its Zambian copper mine if the government imposes a higher royalty. The Globe's Rachelle Younglai writes Barrick was in discussions with the government about reducing the proposed 20-per-cent rate when the Zambian president died this week, adding more uncertainty to the negotiations. "The copper remains in the ground -- it's not going anywhere," Kelvin Dushnisky, Barrick's co-president, told The Globe. "It wouldn't make sense for us to run the mine just for the purpose of paying royalties and taxes." It is another sign the challenges are not over for Barrick, which like the rest of the gold industry continues to grapple with the fallout from weaker gold prices and expensive acquisitions gone wrong. After two years of tumult, Barrick has emerged as the lowest cost producer among the big gold miners, but it continues to carry a lot of long-term debt. The company plans to reduce its net debt to $7-billion (U.S.) from the current $10-billion (U.S.) through its cash flow and proceeds from any potential asset sales. Even after Barrick beat analyst expectations and reduced its costs for the second time this year, investors were displeased.