Mr. Mark Bristow reports

BARRICK MAKES SOLID START TO YEAR

Barrick Gold Corp. has built on the solid foundation it laid last year with a robust first quarter performance from all operations in the face of the challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic. All amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars.

Q1 gold production and costs were consistent with full-year guidance; debt net of cash was reduced by a further 17 per cent from the end of the fourth quarter to $1.85-billion with no significant maturities until 2033; operating cash flow increased to $889-million and free cash flow to $438-million from Q4; net earnings per share were 22 cents; adjusted net earnings per share were 16 cents; and the quarterly dividend of seven cents per share was maintained.

                         FINANCIAL AND OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
 
Financial results                                         Q1 2020   Q4 2019   Q1 2019

Realized gold price ($ per ounce)                          $1,589    $1,483    $1,307
Net earnings ($ millions)                                     400     1,387       111
Adjusted net earnings ($ millions)                            285       300       184
Net cash provided by operating activities ($ millions)        889       875       520
Free cash flow ($ millions)                                   438       429       146
Net earnings per share ($)                                   0.22      0.78      0.06
Adjusted net earnings per share ($)                          0.16      0.17      0.11
Total attributable capital expenditures ($ millions)          364       393       361

Operating results                                         Q1 2020   Q4 2019   Q1 2019
Gold
Production (thousands of ounces)                            1,250     1,439     1,367
Cost of sales (Barrick's share) ($ per ounce)              $1,020    $1,046      $947
Total cash costs ($ per ounce)                                692       692       631
All-in sustaining costs ($ per ounce)                         954       923       825
Copper
Production (millions of pounds)                               115       117       106
Cost of sales (Barrick's share) ($ per pound)                1.96      2.26      2.21
C1 cash costs ($ per pound)                                  1.55      1.90      1.66
All-in sustaining costs ($ per pound)                        2.04      2.82      2.46

Key performance indicators:

• Solid start to the year from all operations;
• Gold production and costs consistent with full-year guidance;
• Debt, net of cash, down a further 17 per cent to $1.85-billion with no significant maturities until 2033;
• Operating cash flow increased to $889-million and free cash flow to $438-million from Q4;
• Net earnings per share of 22 cents and adjusted net earnings per share of 16 cents for the quarter;
• Copper costs per pound significantly lower demonstrating resilience of business;
• Successful completion of Massawa sale creates value for all stakeholders;
• Signing of framework agreement in Tanzania paves way for exporting concentrate;
• Continued focus on safety delivers improvements in injury rates;
• 2019 annual report highlights 10-year plan as Barrick looks to next phase of value creation;
• Pro-active engagement with all stakeholders ensures protection of the company's people and supports sustainability of the business during COVID-19 pandemic;
• Barrick's sustainability vision demonstrated by publication of industry-first ESG scorecard;
• Brownfields exploration success points to life-of-mine extensions;
• Global exploration portfolio expanded with new projects and targets;
• Barrick declares seven-cent quarterly dividend per share.

President and chief executive officer Mark Bristow said operational and financial delivery was on plan despite the fact that the group's prime focus during the latter part of the quarter had been on ensuring the safety of Barrick's people, communities and business in the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic, while also coping with the restrictive conditions imposed by governments.

"Our sustainability and regional teams have done a great job in taking timely action to introduce comprehensive and carefully considered measures at all our sites and offices to manage and mitigate any impacts of COVID-19 on our employees and contractors. A key focus of this plan is on prevention, and all sites are working actively to head off an outbreak," he said.

"In Barrick's spirit of partnership, we have extended COVID-19 support to our local communities and our host countries and are working closely with their health authorities. To date we have donated more than $20-million to our host countries, many of whom have limited health care facilities, to fund the purchase of medical equipment and PPE."

Highlights of the quarter included the closing of the sale of the Massawa project, which has created immediate value for all stakeholders, including Barrick. In Tanzania, the signing of the framework agreement with the government paved the way for the resumption of concentrate exports.

Brownfields exploration continues to replenish reserves depleted by mining while Barrick's generative exploration programs are identifying new projects and targets, and expanding its global reach. Among other things, Barrick has formed an alliance with Japan Gold, holder of the largest exploration property portfolio in Japan.

Since the end of the quarter, the government of Papua New Guinea has announced that it will not renew Barrick Niugini Ltd.'s 20-year special mining lease for the Porgera gold mine. Barrick has said it will contest the move, which it regards as tantamount to nationalization without due process. In the meantime, BNL has placed Porgera on temporary care and maintenance. In addition, due to the uncertainty related to the timing and scope of future developments on the mine's operating outlook, the company is withdrawing its full-year 2020 guidance for Porgera at this time. As this is a rapidly evolving situation, the company will reassess on a continuing basis and provide further updates in due course, while maintaining operational readiness.

Mr. Bristow said regardless of new discoveries, organic growth from its existing asset base -- which includes six Tier 1 gold mines -- would sustain Barrick's recently published 10-year plan that projects annual production of around five million ounces of gold (subject to adjustment based on the outcome of the process with the government of Papua New Guinea with respect to the Porgera special mining lease extension). A Tier 1 gold mine is one that has a life of at least 10 years and produces more than 500,000 ounces of gold per annum in the lower half of the industry cost range.

Barrick has also published an industry-first ESG scorecard to transparently report on its performance in terms of health and safety; social and economic development; human rights; the environment; and governance.

"Over all, we scored a B grade, which we believe accurately reflects our improvement in sustainability performance over the year but also acknowledges that there is still some work to be done," Mr. Bristow said.

Conference call and webinar

Please join the company for an interactive webinar today at 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time/3 p.m. Co-ordinated Universal Time to discuss the results:

United States and Canada:  1-800-319-4610

United Kingdom:  0808-101-2791

International:  1-416-915-3239

The webinar will remain on the website for later viewing and the conference call will be available for replay by telephone at 1-855-669-9658 (U.S. and Canada toll-free) and 1-604-674-8052 (international toll), access code 4363.

Pro-active preparation, rapid response buffer COVID-19 impact

Barrick's deeply embedded health and safety culture, combined with its flat organizational structure and agile management style, cushioned the initial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its people, communities and business.

Mr. Bristow said while crises of one kind or another are endemic in big mining organizations, COVID-19 is a true black swan event.

"Fortunately, Barrick had the management capacity to take immediate and effective action based on well-established health and safety resources and procedures. The streamlined corporate structure we introduced last year, the strong regional executive teams we established, and the transfer of greater authority to the operations all contributed to fast decision making and prompt execution. We could also draw on the experience Randgold gained in dealing with two Ebola outbreaks in Africa," he said.

Group sustainability executive Grant Beringer said Barrick is employing a four P strategy to protect its employees, contractors and communities. The four Ps are pro-active response, preparedness, prevention and perspective.

Among many other things, these headings cover updating emergency response plans at each site, introducing a trigger/threat action response plan and the establishment of outbreak control teams for all mines. Temperature screening is carried out at all access points to the sites and offices, rapid antibody test kits are being rolled out across the group, and social distancing and hygiene protocols have been put in place.

"We believe that education and communication are key components of an effective COVID-19 campaign. Our work force is regularly updated on the latest developments and our plans. Fact sheets with specific information on symptoms, hygiene and social distancing, designed to prevent scaremongering or self-medication with potentially hazardous substances, have been distributed to everybody at Barrick. Daily situation reports from each region are circulated throughout the organization."

Mr. Beringer said Barrick is also engaging closely with its host authorities and communities to support them in their fight against the pandemic. To date, Barrick has provided host governments with financing of more than $20-million, mainly to acquire specialized medical equipment. In addition, the company's operations and subsidiaries have also been individually involved in a number of diverse but effective local charitable initiatives where the need for intervention has been identified.

Barrick has also taken steps to ensure that its operations continue to enjoy an uninterrupted supply chain, pro-actively engaging with key suppliers to mitigate volatility and uncertainty. With an integrated supply chain stretching over multiple continents, dedicated international logistics partners and strong relationships with key suppliers, Barrick has been afforded the flexibility to deal with the challenges in an agile manner.

"Not only have we focused on remaining active in ensuring we have alternate procurement and logistic arrangements in place, we have also increased the stocks of consumables and other fast-moving items at our mines. At the same time, the team has been there to assist in procuring those often scarce PPE and other medical supplies needed by our host countries," said Barrick's group supply chain and commercial executive, Riaan Grobler.

Clearing the air, curbing the cost

Barrick's clean energy strategy is playing a significant and growing part in reducing the impact of its operations on the environment. At the same time, it is also steadily reducing its cost profile.

Metallurgy, engineering and capital projects executive John Steele said the company is investing in cleaner energy projects across all its operations with the aim of cutting more than 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from its GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. This marks a major advance in a journey that has taken Barrick and legacy company Randgold from diesel and coal through heavy fuel oil and then to natural gas, hydro electric and solar power.

The group's second solar power plant is currently being installed at Loulo in Mali. When the 20-megawatt station is commissioned in September this year, it is expected to reduce diesel consumption by 10 million litres and CO2 emissions by 27,000 tonnes per year.

Kibali in the Democratic Republic of the Congo relies mainly on the hydro power generated by its three stations, but in a move to further reduce diesel consumption, a nine-megawatt battery has been installed to provide power surge capacity which is currently supplied by generators. This will reduce the need for thermal power top-ups at an estimated saving of 4.5 million litres of diesel and 8,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Despite its remote location, the inclusion of seasonal hydro power allows Kibali to deliver power at an annual average of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Nevada Gold Mines (NGM) has two power generation facilities in northern Nevada with the TS power plant in Dunphy and the Western 102 power plant outside of Reno. The TS power plant began operations in 2008 and has a capacity of 215-megawatt power generation from its original coal-fired process. The Western 102 power plant has a capacity of 115 megawatts, supplying power from natural-gas-fired generators, and a one-megawatt solar facility.

NGM has embarked on a project to replace the last of its coal-powered stations with natural gas to achieve an estimated annual CO2 saving of 650,000 tonnes. Permit approval is expected in the fourth quarter of this year. NGM has also started a permitting process for a 200-megawatt solar plant. The 100-megawatt first phase of the project is expected to save 130,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

"Nevada Gold Mines is committed to providing its operations low-cost, secure power generation through northeastern Nevada's power grid now and into the future. The conversion of NGM's TS power plant and the potential for an additional solar power facility illustrates this commitment while reducing the mines' carbon emissions," said Greg Walker, executive managing director, NGM.

In the Dominican Republic, the Quisqueya 1 power plant has been converted to accept natural gas instead of heavy fuel oil. It is expected to cut Pueblo Viejo's CO2 emissions by 260,000 tonnes per year.

In Latin America, construction of the 23-kilometre cross-Andes power line, which will link Veladero in Argentina with the Chilean grid, is under way. Sustainable power from the Chilean grid -- which globally has the largest percentage of renewable energy in its supply -- will replace 25 megawatts of diesel-fired generation on site. This is expected to save 32 million litres of fuel per year, as well as the considerable cost of trucking it up the Andes, and cut CO2 emissions by 83,000 tonnes.

Barrick publishes industry-first ESG scorecard

Long before ESG became a metric, its principles were embedded in every aspect of Barrick's and Randgold's businesses, helping management to make better decisions, derisk projects, discover new opportunities, maintain a social licence and deliver real value to stakeholders.

Following the very comprehensive postmerger sustainability report Barrick published last year, this year's even more detailed report features the mining industry's first ESG scorecard. Developed with the assistance of independent sustainability consultants, it rates Barrick's performance against its peers on social and economic development; health and safety; the environment and human rights; and governance.

Mr. Beringer said Barrick is committed to transparently measuring and reporting its performance.

"The 2019 scorecard gave Barrick a B grade, which reflects the improvements in sustainability performance we have made across the group through the year; however, we have not yet met all the high standards we have set for ourselves, and there is still work to be done," he said.

"We are committed to improving our performance and our grade, and will be tracking our progress on a monthly basis. An updated scorecard will be published at the end of Q2 this year."

Golden Sunlight closure solution secures sulphide feedstock for NGM

Conventional closure methods would have left Barrick's Golden Sunlight mine in Montana with the burden of water treatment in perpetuity.

Barrick engineers worked out, however, that the tailings were a significant sulphide resource (as well as containing some gold) that could be used to produce a sulphide concentrate through flotation. This would remove a potential groundwater pollutant, minimizing its postclosure water treatment needs and reducing the mine's overall environmental liability.

In addition, in a unique win-win deal, Nevada Gold Mines has agreed to purchase the concentrate from Golden Sunlight. Golden Sunlight will receive a stable long-term price for its concentrate while NGM has secured a new fuel supply (with a gold price upside) for its refractory process plants for at least the next five years.

New exploration drive extends asset base, brings next tier 1 discovery closer

Since geology was reinstated as the flywheel of the Barrick engine, the group's exploration teams have made significant advances in replenishing the company's reserves as well as stepping up the search for the next big discovery.

"As a geology-centric organization, we understand that major discoveries are increasingly rare," said executive vice-president, exploration and growth, Rob Krcmarov. "What is required now is a much deeper geological insight at both the orebody and district level."

During the past quarter, significant advances have been made on three projects. At Turquoise Ridge in Nevada, upgrading the geological understanding has already identified multiple targets, including open-ended mineralization and untested structural intersections in favourable host rock below the mine. In the DRC, new trends that have emerged in the central and northern parts of the Kibali permit have shown the potential for high-grade mineralization. In Tanzania, a full relog and remodel of the Gokona/Nyabigena deposit have materially changed the understanding of the controls on mineralization, leading to the identification of multiple open targets with the potential to grow the resources beyond depletion for the foreseeable future.

Mr. Bristow said in order for Barrick to be a global leader it needs a global presence.

"We're already on the ground in all of the world's major gold destinations aside from Russia and East Europe. We're looking at a future built around our existing big operations in Central, East and West Africa, in Nevada, the world's most prolific goldfield, in the massively underexplored Dominican Republic, and along the Andean trend. But we're also looking at new frontiers such as Japan, where we've formed an alliance with the holder of the largest exploration portfolio in the country. What's particularly interesting to us is that while Japan hosts one of the world's highest-grade gold mines, it has seen no modern exploration," he said.

Revitalized Veladero poised for new future

The life of the Veladero gold mine in Argentina has been extended to at least 10 years following a comprehensive review of its strategy and business plan, said Mr. Bristow.

Mr. Bristow was briefing an Argentine audience of local media, government authorities and local business and community leaders on the mine's progress from Barrick's offices in Chile, via a video conference to comply with the COVID-19-related travel restrictions imposed by Argentina.

"Our review included the reinterpretation of the mine's geology and an ongoing infill drilling campaign. We established exploration and resource management teams to identify satellite orebodies with the potential to deliver an increase in resources and reserves. Our aim is to extend Veladero's life of mine beyond 2030 and elevate it to a Tier 1 mine," he said. Barrick defines a Tier 1 mine as one that will produce at least 500,000 ounces per annum, has a life of more than 10 years and total cash costs per ounce at the lower half of the industry range.

Mr. Bristow said the next step in Veladero's transformation would be to connect the mine to cleaner, cheaper power from the grid in neighbouring Chile. Once commissioned in the second half of this year, this could halve the mine's carbon footprint and potentially reduce its cut-off grade, creating an opportunity to further increase the minable reserves.

Projects related to revitalizing Veladero, such as the leach pad expansion, have created new employment opportunities, with the number of direct employees and contractors rising by 1,400 to almost 5,000 since January, 2019, and the number of local suppliers increasing almost threefold. In line with Barrick's local employment policy, 99 per cent of Barrick's work force at Veladero are Argentine.

Since 2005, Veladero has contributed about $9.5-billion to the Argentine economy through taxes, royalties, salaries and payments to local suppliers. The mine has established a new community fund, which, depending on production, is expected to generate more than $88-million for local infrastructure development over the next decade.

"Argentina has the potential to rebuild its economy for its people and Veladero can make a significant contribution to that process. Realizing that potential requires the government and the industry to work together towards long-term goals and to guard against short-term fiscal measures which could destroy this opportunity," Mr. Bristow said.

A peerless record of strategic delivery

In the 15 months since the Randgold merger, Barrick's strategic matters group has driven the historic Nevada Gold Mines joint venture transaction, and the successful sales of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and the Massawa project in Senegal. It also worked with Barrick's Africa and Middle East team to secure the Acacia minorities buyout, create a new joint venture with the government of Tanzania and settle all outstanding disputes.

The group is led by senior executive vice-president Kevin Thomson, who describes it as a small team of highly experienced people, based in the Toronto corporate office, with a deep industry knowledge and uniquely specialized, diversified and complementary skill sets that enable it to go well beyond a typical corporate development function.

"It operates on a tightly integrated basis with the rest of the organization, and interacts constantly with Barrick's technical, exploration, tax, financial and legal teams across the globe, as well as leading banks and law firms," he said.

"The group has an unparalleled record of success in executing and delivering major strategic initiatives. Among other things, it has achieved some of the highest transaction multiples in the industry through the divestment of non-core assets over the past five years."

Barrick completes Massawa transaction

In line with its strategy of focusing on Tier 1 assets, Barrick has completed the transaction of combining its Massawa gold project in Senegal with Teranga Gold Corp.'s Sabodala gold mine. Barrick and its Senegalese partner previously held a 90-per-cent interest in the Massawa project.

Mr. Bristow said Massawa was one of the largest unexploited gold deposits in West Africa and its legacy company, Randgold Resources, had developed this over a period of years to the point where its value could now be optimally realized for the benefit of all its stakeholders, which include the Senegal government.

"Teranga is best placed to achieve this as it already owns the nearby Sabodala mine and Sabodala's combination with Massawa is expected to deliver significant synergies. Barrick will participate in the upside of the combined asset through the 11-per-cent interest it acquired in Teranga through this transaction," he said.

The long game wins

In another first for the gold mining industry, Barrick has published its 10-year plans in its 2019 annual report, which appeared in March.

They show that the company's strong asset foundation will support its targeted production for at least the next 10 years through organic growth. Only capital related to the company's current operating assets, sustaining projects in progress as well as existing exploration and mineral resource management initiatives will be required, which will be financed by cash flows at a $1,200-per-ounce average gold price. The plans will be rolled on an annual basis.

The 10-year mine plans are based on reserves and geologically understood resource extensions. A $1,200-per-ounce long-term gold price is currently used to allocate capital.

Mr. Bristow said Barrick is making its plans public to provide investor confidence in its sustainability and to demonstrate that it is the go-to gold company for gearing on the high gold price.

"Barrick has been able to make this confident statement of intent thanks to the work we've done to strengthen the geology function and introduce mineral resource management across the organization. At the same time, we've transferred ownership of and responsibility for the orebodies to the mines. Geological updates are regularly used to update mine plans and real life-of-mine optimization is based on high-confidence geological models as well as operating plans, ounce profiles, and operating and capital cost forecasts," he said.

"Our long-term strategy prizes quality above quantity, hence its focus on Tier 1 assets. We define a Tier 1 mine as one that will produce at least 500,000 ounces per annum, has a life of more than 10 years and total cash costs per ounce at the lower half of the industry range. The fact that we have six of these mines in our portfolio is the surest guarantor of our 10-year production forecast."

Pueblo Viejo's expansion to boost Dominican economy for decades to come

The proposed expansion of the Pueblo Viejo gold mine will extend its life as well as its significant contribution to the Dominican Republic's economy until 2040 and beyond, said Mr. Bristow.

Speaking to local media and businessmen, Mr. Bristow said the project would require an initial investment of $1.3-billion to expand the process plant and the tailings facility. Extending its life would unlock the mine's potential to increase exports by $22-billion and generate more than $4-billion in taxes at a gold price of $1,500 per ounce. The mine's work force (which is 97 per cent Dominican) is expected to grow as the project develops and it will increase opportunities for women (currently 12 per cent of the work force). It will also further promote the development of the local economy based on the mine's suppliers and contractors.

"Our aim is to continue contributing to the social and economic development of the Dominican Republic by applying our sustainability philosophy to create long-term value for all our stakeholders, especially the governments and people of our host countries. Without this project, mining at Pueblo Viejo would have ceased in the next two years," he said.

The expansion will enable the mine to exploit the lower grades in the orebody and is not intended to process ore from outside the current concession area.

In the meantime, Mr. Bristow noted, the conversion of the mine's Quisqueya 1 power plant to natural gas had successfully been commissioned. This will cut greenhouse gases by an estimated 30 per cent and nitrogen oxide by 85 per cent, further reducing Pueblo Viejo's impact on the environment. An agribusiness project is also planned as an additional benefit for the communities impacted by the expansion.

Pueblo Viejo pays another $185-million in taxes, bringing its total cash distribution to the Dominican government to over $2-billion

In the first four months of 2020, the Pueblo Viejo gold mine paid $185-million in direct taxes and $9-million in indirect taxes to the Dominican government. These payments include advances of income taxes, net profit interest and royalties on the sales of gold and silver paid in the first quarter of 2020, as well as the final settlement of the 2019 fiscal year.

In an early payment in April to help contribute to the stability of the Dominican economy and aid the country in combating and containing the spread of COVID-19, Pueblo Viejo paid $113-million to the internal tax collector, despite the Dominican government extending its deadline for certain tax declarations. This brings Pueblo Viejo's total tax payments to the government to more than $2-billion since 2013.

Pueblo Viejo's exports in the first quarter of this year represented 37 per cent of the country's total exports of national goods, with a value of $399-million of a total of $1,081-million.

Pueblo Viejo has also committed nearly $1-million in supporting actions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in the Dominican Republic and the communities near its operations.

Modernizing and streamlining operations at Hemlo

Hemlo has moved to an underground contracting mining model in order to secure the mine's future viability and to extend its life of mine.

Barminco, a leader in modern underground mining skills, won the tender and will be providing contract mining services, with the objective of improving productivity through industry-leading technology and more efficient mining methods at the underground operation.

Barminco's scope includes undertaking mine development, production and haulage, and utilizing mining equipment provided by Barrick. The Barminco plan includes employing more than 300 local people at the operation.

Having recognized the importance of changing the way the mine operates and committing to a more modern mining methodology to ensure Hemlo's future profitability, Barrick, together with contractor Barminco, consulted closely with employees, the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg and Netmizaagamig Nishnaabeg first nations groups, as well as representatives of the Marathon, Manitouwadge and White River communities, before signing the letter of intent for contract mining services.

                     CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
              (in millions of dollars, except per-share data)

                                              Three months ended March 31,
                                                          2020        2019

Revenue                                                 $2,721      $2,093
Costs and expenses (income)
Cost of sales                                            1,776       1,490
General and administrative expenses                         40          54
Exploration, evaluation and project expenses                71          74
Impairment (reversals) charges                            (336)          3
Loss on currency translation                                16          22
Closed mine rehabilitation                                  90          25
Income from equity investees (loss)                        (54)        (28)
Other (income) expense                                     (35)         26
Income before finance costs and income taxes             1,153         427
Finance (costs), net                                      (104)       (120)
Income before income taxes                               1,049         307
Income tax (expense)                                      (386)       (167)
Net income                                                 663         140
Attributable to
equity holders of Barrick Gold                             400         111
Attributable to
non-controlling interests                                  263          29
Earnings per share data attributable
to the equity holders of Barrick Gold
Net income
Basic                                                     0.22        0.06
Diluted                                                   0.22        0.06

We seek Safe Harbor.