The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that Barrick's gold production grew to 816,000 ounces in the third quarter, up 6 per cent from a year ago and its net earnings increased 1 per cent year-over-year to $1.32-billion amid rising costs. The Post's Gabe Friedman quotes chief executive officer Mark Hill saying the company remains on track to meet its full-year guidance of producing between 2.9 million and 3.25 million ounces of gold, plus 190,000 tonnes to 220,000 tonnes of copper. Gold prices have fallen to $4,118 per ounce, down 27 per cent from their all-time peak in January at $5,589 per ounce. That decline has largely been attributed to rising interest rates. Barrick announced in April that it plans to form North American Barrick, a separate company that would contain its stake in the joint venture known as Nevada Gold Mines that it holds with Newmont, plus Pueblo Viejo, its mine in the Dominican Republic. The new company would have assets that could produce two million ounces of gold per year. Barrick's cost of gold sales -- which measures the direct expense required to produce every ounce of gold sold -- rose to $1,950 per ounce in the third quarter, up from $1,562 in the same period a year ago.