Barrick Gold weighs fewer mines

Barrick Gold weighs fewer mines


New York - Barrick Gold, the biggest miner of the metal by sales, is considering shrinking in size as the company focuses on returns over production volumes, chief executive Jamie Sokalsky said.

“Being more profitable is better than being bigger,” Sokalsky said yesterday at the Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit in Toronto.

“If we divested of some of those smaller, higher-cost assets and came down to a suite of assets that are long-lived and lower-cost and more valuable, I think that ultimately that can be a better investment proposition.”

Gold producers are trading at their cheapest in more than a decade relative to the broader market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as investors flee the industry amid rising mining costs, project delays and asset writedowns.

Sokalsky, who took over as chief executive of the Toronto-based company 11 months ago, is reviewing growth plans and pursuing asset sales as gold trades at a two-year low and is poised to end a rally that has extended for 12 straight years.

Barrick, the owner or part owner of 27 mines, rose 4.3 percent yesterday to C$19.88 in Toronto.

The company closed at a two-decade low on April 17, losing its position as the top gold miner by market value to Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc last month.

It makes sense for Barrick to shrink, said George Topping, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in Toronto.

Selling the company’s Australian assets would be “a good place to start,” he said.

Barrick is working with Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG on a possible sale of Australian mines, two people with knowledge of the matter said last month.

Resource Nationalism

“At the 8 million-ounce level, with 26 or so mines it’s very difficult to focus,” Topping said yesterday by phone.

“In order to have better managerial control you’re better off with fewer but much larger assets, preferably in the same north-south time zones.”

It’s easier to manage a company with fewer assets, said Sokalsky, 55.

The location of mines has also taken on a greater importance because of an increase in so-called resource nationalism, in which governments seek a bigger slice of revenue.

After a dispute with the Dominican Republic, Toronto- based Barrick on May 8 agreed to amend a lease governing the Pueblo Viejo mine in the country.



The conclusions:

• BG had the pressure on after loosing Pascua lama (Chile Argentina)

• BG lost the mines of Tanzania and China last years

• BG is going to fire sell the Australian mine

• The importance of Pueblo Viejo mine is HUMONGOUS for BG assets

• The rules of the game for pollution had changed for good in affected countries

• These news have affected the price of Barrick Gold stock (ABX) , therefor , their market capitalization.ABX is experimenting a bear market right now.

• They haven't release any statement about the future of the 600 families affected by BG contamination.

• They haven't release any statement about any reforestation program and water treatment program for Cotui-Pueblo Viejo

Event though a lot of people are happy with the financial agreement with BG, some of the inner needs of a lot of Dominicans haven't been fulfill yet like  health, employment,heavy pollution,evictions, housing, water, etc, etc.
People is still waiting..
 

The dark business of Barrick Gold





I was reading the news about the new agreement with Barrick Gold and the government., and I could tell that a lot of people were already celebrating the great achivement but certain things cached my attention.

• In the last interview with the 400 intoxicated Peruvian miners, they were complaining that BG took their passports and documents..Why is that?
  They are forced to work, no option whatsoever outside of BG, they are violating Dominican immigration laws because so far, none of them have working papers by the Dominican state, as some Haitian does.
  No employment for dominicans whatsoever in one of the areas of DR with the highest unemployment rate !!

Of course, if they don't like their job no more, they are not cover by Dominican law or any labor department.No money whatsoever..

• How come that Barrick Gold have the power for the eviction of 600 families of Cotui? isn't the government the first one that were supposed to protect them?

• With the last contract , people is very happy but they haven't stop thinking about the island in 25 years.
  The waters and land of the Cibao is already very contaminated, the heart of agriculture in the Caribbean..And it's only the first year! .
  Does it worth it? How come BG never reimburse them?

All Dominicans will be eventually a victim of that dark contamination: rich, middle class , poor as well.
They are going to leave over here a pool of cyanide, a simple Chernobyl of the Caribbean.

People will struggle over here for surviving!

Every penny we ever build in tourism or agriculture will be lost !




This is why not even reforestation can work:

• When you cut a tree for wood purpose , you still have land for the next tree.

• When you cut a tree for open  mining you use explosive to remove the vegetable lawyer of soil , living only caliche behind ( nothing can grow up out of there)

• They already use the water for cleaning their cyanide and mercury ..not for water thousand of acres of land..And that water can not be used for ANYTHING either

No water, no soil, no reforestation capacity, no will..NO WAY








 


In other countries , like Colombia, mining companies before they start operations, they have to pass an auditing for environmental impact by the government.And a third private party auditing the mining companies and the government as well.!
I 've never heard anything like that in the last speech of BG or the government

The level of contamination in our country is already very high.And when the water is over , the amount of money offered by Barrick Gold will be worthless.People is going to be fighting them for their right to live !.

If people think it twice about these topics that I mention before, they wouldn't be so happy celebrating.
If people think it twice , they would realize that Barrick Gold so far has only bring destruction , evictions, illness, contamination and misery to dominicans

So you, as a conscious dominican..What are you going to do now?

Barrick Gold Pollution

 Pollution of Barrick Gold in Dominican Republic



Everybody is happy with BG agreement with the government last week , everything happily settle down for financial issues, but there is anything made to shrink the environmental impact ?
Barrick Gold has been accused of a number of environmentally unsound practices by environmental groups.
The company has countered accusations by activists, challenging the accuracy of criticisms.

Criticisms include poisonous spills of cyanide , mercury and other heavy metals in Hatillo and Margajita and Yuma river, leading to environmental damage and the poisoning of human populations.



The director of Corporación del Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Santo Domingo (CAASD), architect Alejandro Montás, declared that the Hatillo dam is contaminated by Barrick Gold and can not be used no more for human consumption




Dead fishes from Hatillo dam.

Water depletion is a major negative consequence of gold mining, not to mention the poisoning of thousand of fishes, cattle and crops.. The large amount of water required to run a gold mining operation exacerbates its impact on local communities of Cotui and Cibao valley, many of which are already experiencing drought.

Last year not 106 as they claim, but 400 peruvian miners show up at Centro médico Ureña Hernández of Cotuí, in DR with symptoms of intoxication.

The base of Cotui economy is not mine activities but agriculture production, mostly exportation of pineapple

There is a very delicate balance in Dominican ecosystem , and now everybody seem unfriendly to the natural resources situation.






 A lot of people are complaining about the pollution left behind by the Rosario, but the super negative impact of Barrick Gold is unbearable..Once the gold oxide was processed, the sulfides were exposed and the mine was abandoned to its fate, allowing acidic waters from the Margajita River to drain away to the Hatillo Dam.

The acidic water is the result of a mixture of rainwater and the minerals from the gold sulfides that have remained exposed.

Another legacy of negative environmental impact from Rosario is the accumulation of heavy metals like iron, copper, and mercury , but now is way worst with Barrick Gold new damn El llagal and at at the site of the old plant and the sludge from Mejita and Margajita Rivers.


 



El Llagal , new illegal dam made by Barrick Gold




The contaminated Margarita river
 

Maguaca river


 Contaminated Margajita River by Barrick Gold according to the  president of Miguel de Peña García Fundation

There must be a serious environmental  plans to clean the cyanide and mercury from DR , because the damage could  be intolerable for any kind of vegetable animal or human life.Otherwise, get ready to start pointing fingers, as we did a couple weeks ago..

Somebody have to take the responsibility for no taking care of our natural resources, because once they  are lost, they will be lost forever.

Somebody better be responsible for the ecological mess in our fragile ecosystem!

The gold have some value but our land and our people health is worthless?

Is it ok that we get our rivers and lakes full of cyanide and mercury and nobody complains about it?


Are we conscious that no fish, animal life or  vegetable life  can ever grow up in such poisonous conditions?

Did we ALL get insane?

The new dark deal between Barrick Gold and the Dominican state

Pact: Dominican Republic gets 51%; Barrick Gold Corp. 49%
 Pact means US$1.5 billion more for the country 

 
 Meet the new pirates of 21st century!

"CEO: We’re here to stay, unless we’re expelled"
 

Santo Domingo.- After months of talks, protests and proposals, Dominican Republic and Barrick Gold Corp. on Wednesday reached a new agreement on the contract for the mine at Pueblo Viejo, Cotuí (northeast).

In a press conference after a meeting of several hours between senior officials and Barrick Gold executives in the National Palace, the government announced the pact to amend the contract, to be submitted to Congress as soon as possible.

"The objective of this review was to achieve a more balanced agreement for both parties and more in line with the Dominican reality, so we will sign a memorandum of understanding between the parties," said Presidency chief of staff Gustavo Montalvo.

Among other points, the agreement will raise Government revenue by more than US$1.5 billion over the project's duration, in addition to the US$10.0 billion projected in March 2013, and raises the profit split from 37.1% to 51.3 % for the country, and lowers Barrick’s from 62.9% to 48.7%
According to the document read by Montalvo, the projected tax revenue is US$11.6 billion, of which Pueblo Viejo will provide US$2.2 billion during the 2013-2016 period, subject to a gold price of US$1,600 per ounce. "The parties agreed to eliminate the 10% internal rate of return for the tax on the stake of net income to take effect."

The agreement eliminates Barrick’s privilege of starting payments to the State when the investment of capital is completed, for which tax payment tax would be immediate.
With the provisions, it will now take the Canadian miner until 2026 to recover its investment, and not bu 2016 as was stipulated.

Barrick Gold Pueblo Viejo CEO
 
For Barrick Gold Pueblo Viejo CEO Manuel Rocha the agreement is evidence of the miner’s commitment with Dominican Republic, from where he affirms will leave only if expelled. “We believe in the Dominican Republic ,we believe the democratically elected government here, what’s needed now is that we both do our part, it’s clear that Barrick Gold didn’t come just for a bit, we came to stay. We will work to stay unless we are expelled.”

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Let's do some quick math here
Barrick’s 27 shipments since Nov. 11 were reportedly 9,040 kilos of gold and 24,357 of silver


kilo = 35.27 oz
Gold oz price :US 1600

9,040 kilos x US1,600.00 x 35.27=


U$510,145,280.00
__________________________

Silver: U$25.- per oz

US25 x 35.27 oz x 24, 357 kilos=
U$21,476,784

___________________
Total taken by Barrick gold till now :
U$531 Millions in 6 moth of operations

Based on previous numbers: Forecast a year of BG; U$1,062 millions


So, according to 7dias.com.do the dominican state will get U$11,600 millions for the life of that mine for 25 years .
U$11,600 / U$1062: : 10 years to achieve that goal for Dominicans.. the other 15 years are Barrick Gold 's time.
So the deal is not 49 %-51% as they initially said before.

The other open questions are these..

• -What happens with the retroactive payment?Is there going to be any as Danilo promised?

• -When is going to be the first payment and for how much?

• -Any serious reforestation plans for the future?

• -Are they going to pay the fines for smuggling dore?

• -When are they going to pay the millions they already owe to Dominican state? Arent they?

• Are they going to have a water treatment facility to clean the cyanide and mercury?Do they talk about it?

• What about any plans for clean water and sanitation for the community, the second poorest one in DR??

•  Three years ago , people used to have their own water, now they dont have water or  river because it's so polluted, so they are allow to take only 2 gallons of water per family from a water truck, because BG is using their water for the mercury and cyanide  procedure.

• What can expect the people from Cotui in the next 25 years? Eviction of everybody?

• How are they going to clean their toxic mess in Hatillo dam, and the rivers of Cotui?

• -Are they going to provide employment for Dominicans? To have 97% of foreign crew is against dominicanl law..Right?

-How are they going to measure the already taken dore from DR? What is the procedure to put a value on the millions already taken away..? Or the one is going to be taken away in the future? Or our gold don't have a value no more?

I have to agree that there is a big improvement over the last contract,and some people are super optimist, but not everything is clear.
Again.. Now we have more questions than answers..

Dominican government, Barrick Gold strike mine deal; reports

Santo Domingo (hoy.com.do).- After a marathon meeting Tuesday  the Dominican government and Barrick Gold Corp. reached a tentative agreement to amend the Pueblo Viejo mine contract, although how a new tax would be levied was left pending, local media report.

Canadian miner executives John Lawson Thornton, Calvin Francis Pon, Alann Hjordis Heath, Derek Hudson Burney, Kelvin Paul Michel Dushnisky, Andrew Lloyd and Curtis Arthur Johnson arrived in the country Monday noon and met with government officials headed by Presidency chief of staff Gustavo Montalvo.
 On Tuesday president Danilo Medina said he hopes to strike a deal. "It’s a negotiation. You start with endpoints and reach a midpoint. God willing a midpoint will be reached today (Tuesday)."

 


There should be more scrutiny focus on the  ambiguity of Customs and the laws of a mining country that in   an act of ignorance or  permissiveness, haven't even care to purchase a lab that allow to detect  dore and other metals, taken away from DR  under the shadow of night ... Towards a rising movement  that bet on softening popular anger against the mining activity of BG and his deadly pollution, after being fine tuned with the same money that has come out of the  innards of our land ... Towards the talks between the Government and the arrogant company that haven't pay a dime to the Dominican government yet...

We dominicans are so feed up with lame excuses  from BG, who got a 48 BILLION gold mine for free, over and over and over..

In this case we only hope that the final deal would be beneficial to the VERY poor communities around Barrick Gold, where children can get an education , people can go to the hospitals, people can get a decent job, not a total pollution or a total devastation situation ..At the end,we are not asking for too much, just that  people can get a REAL and decent way of living..

 On February 27, in the  National Assembly, President Danilo Medina created great expectations to raise the urgent need to review the contract with Barrick Pueblo Viejo. And the people took his word. A double-edged sword. Now many people expect him  to act under the power of his own  speech.

And we do not ask much. Just ask him to be thoughtful and not give in to blackmail or urban legend  from the powerful mining company. Do not delay the awaited good news for the whole country.
Again , we hope that God give wisdom and patience to the Dominican leaders, so the deal would be really beneficial to a third world country like Dominican Republic

Barrick Gold, Dominican Government poised for showdown


\

Santo Domingo.-  Seven Barrick Gold Corp. executives arrived at Las Americas Airport from the U.S. on Monday, as the Government retains a third a gold shipment in as many months to press talks for a new contract.
A source close to the negotiations between the Canadian miner and the Government was quoted by eldia.com.do as saying that Barrick could notify its decision to take the case to international arbitration.
It was learned that though the notification wouldn’t halt the talks with Dominican authorities, it would advance the arbitration if a deal isn’t reached.
A shipment of 1,264 ounces of gold and silver bars bound for Canada was retained by Customs at Las Americas on May 1.
Barrick Gold senior executives Calvin Francis Pon, John Lawson Thornton, Alann Hjordis Heath, Derek Hudson Burney, Kelvin Paul Michel Dushnisky, Andrew lloyd and Curtis Arthur Johnson arrived noon Monday on a private jet from Denver, Colorado.
Customs accuses Barrick Gold of "constant irregularities" on export forms, but in a statement the Canadian company said that "all documentation for shipments made to date has been inspected and approved" by Customs.

 Peter Munk founder of Barrick gold with John Lawson Thornton a chairman of BG who is in the DR trying to resolve the conflict

Presidency chief of staff Gustavo Montalvo last week revealed that a "final offer" was already sent to the company to renegotiate the contract. “In any given scenario the Government will receive retroactive compensation payable to the country for mineral exports."
It was also reported that the Government hired a company to assess Barrick Gold’s investment, and found a “sizeable” difference with the Canadian miner’s figures.

 

The Dominicans have been warning BG for so long for constant irregularities  and review of the contract .Now that they didn't want to renegotiate the contract since the first time, they came begging for a review and an interview with the government officials.

The Dominican president was clear :  "the Government will receive retroactive compensation payable to the country for mineral exports."

The Barrick Gold officials have been acting with a lot of arrogance , and keep ignoring the claim of the dominican government to get an agreement. Under the actual contract the  Dominican wont see a dime in real life while Barrick Gold will make billions  out of the Dominicans, while the area keep flooded with  cyanide .


Barrick Gold tradicionally have a dark past in their relation with countries they have gold mines at.Last month they were fined in Nevada, USA,  and two weeks ago they were expelled of Chile.Barrick gold have a long history of scams, brivery, heavy pollution, evictions, etc..
Maybe that's why Barrick Gold is the most hated company in the world.Hopefully this time Dominican officials will get some wisdom at the time of signing the contract.

Barrick says they don't know the reason for their shipment retention

RE: Say no to Barrick Gold pirates

06 de mayo del 2013
Barrick says they don't know the reason for their shipment retention
Barrick Gold dice desconocer razones de retención de nuevo embarque
ww.7dias.com.doSanto Domingo06 de mayo del 2013







En un comunicado emitido este lunes, la empresa desmiente que el retraso en el embarque obedezca a la detección de irregularidades en los documentos de declaración que deben ser llenados.

“Toda la documentación de los embarques realizados a la fecha ha sido inspeccionada y aprobada por la propia DGA. Cada vez que la DGA nos ha comunicado algún cambio en cuanto a los trámites de exportaciones, hemos procedido a acogerlos. En dos de los embarques tuvimos inconvenientes debido a limitaciones del propio sistema SIGA de la DGA”, apunta Barrick Gold.

Insiste en que, hasta ahora, no ha sido notificada por la Colecturía de la DGA en el Aeropuerto Internacional de las Américas de que hubiera error o irregularidad en la declaración, por lo que ignora las razones de la medida de las autoridades.

En algunos círculos se comenta que con este tipo de medidas el gobierno del presidente Danilo Medina ejerce presión para lograr la revisión del contrato.


In some circles, people comment that these are measures by the goverment of the president to force a long waited revision  of the contract -scam


“Reiteramos que en todos los aspectos de nuestras operaciones, perseguimos el cumplimiento a cabalidad de todas las leyes y normas establecidas por la autoridades nacionales por lo que esperamos que se normalicen los trámites para poder proseguir con la exportación como se ha hecho con los 27 embarques anteriores, todos debidamente autorizados por la DGA”, concluye la minera.

The Customs Agency instructed its Punta Caucedo Port office at Las Americas Airport (AILA) to retain Barrick’s gold cargos until it reaches a new agreement with the Government.

Esta misma mañana, autoridades aduaneras informaron que procederían a tomar nuevas muestras del retenido embarque número 28 de oro y plata para comprobar la correspondencia entre lo embarcado y lo declarado.

The information was provided  at Las Americas, from where a detailed report was sent to president Danilo Medina , after inspections conducted on Barrick’s exports found alleged irregularities.
The Government reportedly instructed Customs to slap the mining company with more than US$96.0 million in fines for its doré shipments.
______________________________________________________________________________

Poor Barrick Gold, so naive and innocent..Maybe if some employee would ever read a dominican newspaper and see what EVERYBODY in DR is thinking about them ,
-about smuggling gold in front of the authorities

-the eviction to hundred of families,

-the disrespect to the Dominican president


-the TOTAL IMPUNITY while breaking dozens of dominican laws

-the problems with the government,

-scams ,

-the arrogance with the press, the government and the Dominican people,

-illegal dams constructions,

-why they were expelled from Chile last month,

- illness and cyanide pollution in a bunch of rivers of Cibao valley,

-how they bring misery to the communities that they touch,

-and most of all, how Barrick Gold get the pinnacle of infamy ,They would get an answer..
But of course..Barrick Gold didnt know anything about it !

"Poor Barrick Gold.. Such naive and innocent` " !

After 500 years , the gold exploitation continues at ANY cost..!