The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition Barrick Gold is shutting its stand-alone copper unit. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says the move follows the July sale of half of the company's stake in its Zaldivar copper mine in Chile to Antofagasta PLC for $1.01-billion (U.S.), after having also sold the Cowal mine in Australia and a 50-per-cent share of the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea. Barrick bought copper-producer Equinox Minerals in 2011, a decision that caused its debt to balloon. With copper prices down 23 per cent in the past year and shares heading for a fifth straight annual drop, Barrick has said it wants to cut debt by at least $3-billion (U.S.) this year. In the past two months, the company has said it will sell a package of gold mines in Nevada and Montana. "I see them needing to sell everything that is non-core," said Andrew Kaip, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. Barrick's shares are down 37 per cent this year. The company is also closing its Salt Lake City office. Barrick will still have a presence in the copper industry through the Lumwana mine in Zambia and Jabal Sayid in Saudi Arabia, though Barrick says the Saudi project is run by the company's joint-venture partner.