Barrick Gold reports higher fourth-quarter copper, gold output

The company's total preliminary output was 1.05 million ounces of gold and 113 million pounds of copper in the three months ended Dec. 31, up from 1.04 million ounces of gold and 112 million pounds of copper in the previous quarter. Barrick said it expects all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce of gold, an industry metric that reflects total expenses, to rise about 8% to 10% from the previous quarter. Copper's AISC is, however, expected to be 2% to 4% lower, largely on the back of lower capitalized waste stripping at Barrick's Lumwana mine in Zambia.