The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that Barrick could be free of debt within a decade on bullion-price gains, cost cuts and asset sales, president Kelvin Dushnisky said. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says Barrick had about $9-billion in debt in the first quarter, down from $15.8-billion in the second quarter of 2013 (all figures U.S.). Mr. Dushnisky said debt could fall to $5-billion in three years and zero within 10 years. "That's not unreasonable," he told Bloomberg TV. "Yet again, it's gold-price dependent. We've been very clear, Barrick was the only company with an A-rated balance sheet for the longest time. Our intent is to be strong investment grade, and we'd like to be in the position where we have no corporate debt." Barrick has set a target of paying down $2-billion in debt this year after exceeding its $3-billion debt-reduction goal in 2015. Barrick has already achieved 40 per cent of that goal by the end of the first quarter. Gold futures have surged 28 per cent to $1,357.40 an ounce this year. Part of the debt strategy will involve divesting Barrick's non-core assets, including Chilean copper mine Zaldivar, its Zambian Lumwana copper mine and Acacia Mining PLC in Africa.