The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that Barrick Gold is reporting a plunge in profits due to lower production and higher costs, even as it beat earnings expectations. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post reports that the Toronto-based company says it took in $305-million in net income for the quarter ended June 30, a 38-per-cent drop from $488-million during the same period a year earlier (all figures U.S.). Barrick says revenues nudged down by 1 per cent to $2.83-billion in its second quarter from $2.86-billion the year before. On an adjusted basis, net earnings fell to 19 cents per basic share from 24 cents per basic share, beating analyst expectations of 17 cents per share. Chief executive officer Mark Bristow says Barrick's Carlin complex in Nevada's Eureka county has processing constraints that need to be overcome, despite improved performances there and at a pair of mines in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo that lay a sturdy foundation for production in the second half of the year. Last quarter, Barrick churned out 3 per cent less gold and 11 per cent less copper year-over-year, while the cost of sales rose by nearly 5 per cent to $1.94-billion versus $1.85-billion a year earlier.