Barrick reports first gold pour at Tanzania mine
By:
Liezel Hill
4th May 2009
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) The world's biggest gold miner, Barrick Gold, on Monday poured the first gold at its new Buzwagi mine, in Tanzania.
The mine is expected to produce about 200 000 oz of gold this year, at total cash costs of between $320/oz and $335/oz.
The mine will help lower Barrick's overall costs, which are expected to come in at between $450/oz and $475/oz this year.
"For any mining company, a new mine entering production is always an exciting time - particularly for the development team," said Barrick CEO Aaron Regent.
"The team constructed Buzwagi on time and in line with its budget of about $400-million. They also successfully managed to do this with an outstanding safety record."
Buzwagi is the first of three new Barrick mines to enter production - Cortez Hills in Nevada is expected to come into production in the first quarter of 2010 and Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2011.
Combined, the three projects represent almost two million ounces of production at lower cash costs than the current portfolio average.