Barrick Mining Corporation (ABX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Barrick 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. As a reminder, this meeting is being recorded. I would now like to turn the meeting over to John Thornton, Barrick's Chairman. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning. My fellow shareholders, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to Barrick's 2024 Annual General Meeting. As we advised, this meeting is being held virtually, and you can participate by way of our live webcast. We look forward to answering your questions and hearing your views. Before we start, I would like to introduce the other directors who are here with me today. They are Mark Bristow, Helen Cai, Christopher Coleman, Isela Costantini, Michael Evans, Brian Greenspun, Brett Harvey, Anne Kabagambe, Andrew Quinn and Loreto Silva. Sadly, since our last meeting, Gustavo Cisneros has passed away after many years of valued service to the Board. Gustavo was an irreplaceable source of wisdom, judgment and insight. He had an uncanny ability to get right to the core of the matter and to give sound, practical forward-leaning advice when one most needed it. His generous entrepreneurial spirit and his personal and professional integrity will be missed by all of us. We also mark with deep sadness the loss of a distinguished leader and cherished friend, the right honorable Brian Mulroney, who passed away on February 29th of this year. As the 18th Prime Minister of Canada, Brian was one of the greatest statesman of his generation. His legacy is defined by his steadfast leadership, guiding Canada through times of substantial domestic and international transformation. He was a courageous leader, who tackled challenging issues, including advocating for free trade despite significant opposition, pushing for Nelson Mandela's release against the views of some of his closest allies, and implementing policies that earned him the title of Canada's Greenest Prime Minister. After leaving office, Brian joined the Barrick Board of Directors serving as a director for 10 years and as Chairman of our International Advisory Board for nearly 19 years. A pivotal figure in our organization, Brian led with a blend of decency, humor and extraordinary skill. His wise insights into geopolitical and strategic issues were invaluable. His absence will be profoundly felt. On another note, Michael Evans has given notice that he will not be standing for reelection. On behalf of all of us on the board, I would like to express our deep gratitude to Mike for his outstanding service and exemplary leadership as a member of our Board of Directors. 5 years after the transformational merger with Randgold Resources, Barrick has been restructured and repurposed as a modern mining business with a constantly replenished global asset base of peerless quality managed by a team with an unparalleled record of recognizing and realizing opportunities for profitable and sustainable growth. This Barrick is guided by a long-term future-facing strategy, finally attuned to the demands and expectations of a rapidly changing world. Its aim is not only to secure the company's sustainable profitability but also to make sustainability in every sense, the core of its activities. Barrick's pioneering partnership philosophy, a key component of its commitment to sustainability, has already rebuilt the Tanzanian mines into a complex with Tier 1 potential, reconstituted Reko Diq project in Pakistan, and is now developing into one of the world's largest copper and gold producers. And after 3 years of negotiation, achieved an agreement for the reopening of the Porgera Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea, where mining and processing have restarted and will be ramping up over the next 2 quarters. It is clear that we have achieved all the initial objectives we set for ourselves. The renewed emphasis on exploration has placed Barrick in the unique position of more replenishing the reserves depleted by mining year-to-year. In fact, all other major gold or copper mining company has organically replaced 100% of its reserves on a consistent basis as Barrick has done. Major organic growth projects, such as the Reko Diq Project, which is based on one of the largest and highest quality undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world, the current expansion of Pueblo Viejo Tier 1 mine life by more than 3 years and the transformation of Lumwana in Zambia into one of world's major copper mines, secured Barrick's production profile well into the future. Expanding the copper portfolio was one of Barrick's key strategic aims and when the new Lumwana and Reko Diq are commissioned in 2028, Barrick will become a major league copper producer. In the meantime, we continue to pursue opportunities for growing this portfolio. With our exploration successes, these major growth projects, the performance improvements and new growth prospects in Nevada our long-term decline in costs and the upside potential of gold and copper, we are well positioned to deliver real value. The Board has agreed with me that this is an appropriate time for me to transition from the role of Executive Chairman to that of Chairman in which capacity I will continue to oversee our strategies and their implementation. Mark Bristow continues as President and Chief Executive. He will chair rest of this meeting, and I now hand it over to him. Thank you.

Thank you, John, and good morning. With your consent, I'll ask Joe Heckendorn, Barrick's Corporate Secretary, to act as Secretary of the meeting and representatives of the TSX Trust Company to act as scrutineers. We are pleased to host a virtual meeting format for this year's meeting. So shareholders can attend virtually a live webcast regardless of their geographic location. There are 4 matters to deal with as part of the formal business of the meeting. The election of Directors, the appointment of an auditor, an advisory resolution and executive compensation, and the shareholder proposal. As described in detail in the information circular for today's meeting, registered shareholders who held shares on March 1, 2024, the record date for this meeting and duly appointed proxyholders are entitled to vote at this meeting using an electronic ballot. Our information circular and other proxy materials contain full details about how to register yourself or a proxy holder to participate at today's meeting. If you are not a registered shareholder or a duly appointed proxy holder, you are attending this meeting as a guest. Shareholders who have already voted by proxy do not need to complete an electronic ballot unless you wish to change your vote. The virtual platform will be opened for voting on all 4 resolutions at the same time. This will allow you to choose to vote on each resolution immediately or you can wait until each resolution is presented to cast your vote. Shareholders and proxy holders participating through the virtual platform may submit a question at any time by clicking on the message icon displayed on your screen, composing a question and selecting the send icon. Following the formal business of the meeting, we would be happy to respond to questions submitted through the virtual platform. As the scrutineers have confirmed that a quorum of shareholders is present, I declare the meeting to be properly constituted and the virtual platform open for voting on all resolutions. The annual report, the consolidated financial statements and the auditor's report have been mailed to shareholders who have requested them. We would be pleased to deal with any relevant questions during the general question period. We will now proceed with the election of directors. The Board has determined that the number of directors to be elected at the meeting is 10. The Board's nominees for election are: Mark Bristow, Helen Cai, Christopher Coleman, Isela Costantini, Brian Greenspun, Brett Harvey, Anne Kabagambe, Andrew Quinn, Loreto Silva and John Thornton. I move that each of the Board's nominees be elected. Please record your vote for directors through the virtual platform now. The next item of business is the appointment of an auditor. The Board recommends PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, be appointed auditor of Barrick to hold office until the close of the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until its successor is appointed and that the directors be authorized to set the auditor's remuneration. I move that the Board's recommendation be approved. Please record your vote through the virtual platform now. The third item of business is the advisory resolution on executive compensation. The Board of Directors has adopted a nonbinding advisory vote relating to executive compensation. The Board recommends that the advisory resolution regarding the company's approach to executive compensation as set forth in the information circular be approved. I move that a Board's recommendation be approved. Please record your vote through the virtual platform now. We will now consider the fourth and last item of business set out in the notice of meeting. Please note that I will close the virtual platform for voting after this item. So please ensure that you record your vote on all resolutions. The fourth matter to be voted on is a shareholder proposal. The Board recommends a vote against this proposal for the reasons set out in the information circular. We will now play a prerecorded statement from [ Lacey Kohlmoos ] to present the proposal. Operator, please play the statement from Ms. [ Kohlmoos ] at this time.

Hello. My name is [ Lacey Kohlmoss ], and I am a Senior campaign manager at Echo. I am representing shareholders who submitted a proposal calling on Barrick to conduct independent third-party audit of environmental water impacts, resolved. Shareholders request the Board of Directors to commission an independent third-party audit to assess the environmental water impacts of planned and current operations of Barrick Mines. Input from stakeholders, including local civil society organizations and affected community members should be considered in determining the specific scope and guidelines for the assessment. A report on the audit prepared at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information should be published on the company's website within 12 months with an interim progress report by close of the fourth quarter of 2020. Whereas Barrick Gold's operations have been found to harm water supplies in multiple mining locations. Such impacts caused significant damage to local communities and community opposition to the company's license to operate and led a major institutional investor, Norway's government pension fund, to divest its holdings. A ban is still in place to this day. The Pension Funds Council of Ethics concluded that investment in Barrick amounted to an unacceptable risk for the fund contributing to serious environmental damage, and that the company's assertions that its operations do not cause long-term and irreversible environmental damage carried little credibility. This is reinforced by the lack of openness and transparency in the company's environmental reporting. Such damage combined with the lack of transparency, weaken long-term value and increase material risks to the company and investors.

I move that the Board's recommendation against the proposal be adopted. Please record your vote through the virtual platform now. For those of you who have not voted on all of the resolutions, please do so now as I will shortly close the virtual voting platform. [Voting] I now declare the voting platform closed, and the formal part of this meeting is now concluded. We will report the voting results once the scrutineers have tallied the votes. We are now happy to respond to any questions relating to the business of the meeting. As a reminder, shareholders and proxy holders participating in our meeting through the virtual platform may now submit a question by clicking on the message icon displayed on your screen, composing a question and selecting the send icon. We would like to give as many of you as possible an opportunity to participate. So please be reminded that all questions should be concise. Let's begin with our first question.

We have a question from Dr. Salman Khan. Barrick has Tier 1 Managers. This has not always been the case as Tier 1 managers are hard to come by. What does the pipeline look like today? Is the company actively nurturing talent in-house? Or can we expect a merger in the future, done with the purpose of getting the next generation of [indiscernible]?

Dr. Khan, thank you for that question. We invest -- we consider our people as our most important assets. And just like we invest in our future and as the Chairman pointed out, we have replaced all the gold and copper we've mined over the last 5 years. We invest in our people. And we do it through a number of approaches. First of all, we have an internal leadership series of programs, starting with the frontline leadership all the way up to the senior management. And then we move into developing future leaders by using universities, particularly the world's best business schools. And that is connected also with mentorship. And I think it will be a good thing to just explain in Pakistan with the Reko Diq project, we are already investing in the best competencies that we can gather from all the universities across the country, where we've selected Balochistan citizens, who have graduated from university with a specific subjects. And we've had the first cohort of 9 people, 4 women and 5 men. And we've now moved them to our operations, and we're giving them experience. We're busy with the next cohort and the next cohort. And over the next couple of years, up until we commission Reko Diq. We will have developed a future leadership team ready to take on the leadership of Reko Diq. So that gives you an example of the sort of investment we make in our people.

The next question is from Jinasha Goyal. In the coming decade, where is the largest financial age for Barrick, the drill bit? Or operations cost? Or the cost of asset acquisition?

So I've been in this career for 40 years. And the real value created by mining is when we discover world-class assets and develop them. It's an undisputable fact. Of course, Barrick is always looking on ways to improve our cost profile through technology, through efficiencies and again, through investment in people. So really, those -- that's the focus for Barrick on how we create value for our shareholders and all other stakeholders. Of course, we've always got an eye on M&A or acquisitions. But as you've seen in the past, we're very disciplined in how we approach it, and we need to convince our Board that such an acquisition would create value for our stakeholders.

The next question is from Saleem Khan. What limits do you self-impose to ensure discipline in increasing the cut off gold price for projects in the face of rising gold price?

So as you know, we're very disciplined in how we allocate and calculate reserves. And we use a long-term $1,300 gold price. We vary that on an input cost basis, that will adjust as the input costs adjust, that keeps the discipline and ensures a margin and guarantees profitability right through the commodity cycle. And that's really the signature of the approach that Barrick takes in investing and ensuring that we are able to develop opportunities in the troughs and deliver value to our shareholders in the peaks.

We are just waiting for one more question. We have received a question from [ Abe Sami ] regarding the status of the community resettlement process near the Pueblo Viejo mine? Could you please comment?

Yes. We are -- as you know, we went through a very extensive consultation with the community and the government and all other interested and affected parties. Before embarking on the expansion right up front. And we've done more on that as far as consultation with the communities on the relocation of certain people who need to move. And again, we've reached agreement with them on the new townships, which we are now constructing and we engaged just so that you're clear, we engage with every single family unit and get agreements, and they are based on the UN guidelines for relocation. So -- and right now, I can say that we are on track as far as the development of the tailings facility, which is an integral part of the expansion that we referred to earlier. And that is really an expansion that makes Pueblo Viejo, a world-class Tier 1 mine for out beyond 20 years. And I would also add that PV is a major tax payer within the Dominican Republic and has been ever since it was commissioned back in 2013. That brings an end to our questions. We will now be happy to respond to relevant questions from individuals who registered on the online platform as guests. Shareholders, proxy holders and guests are now invited to submit a question by clicking on the message icon displayed on your screen, composing a question and selecting the send icon.

Great. I'll just give a moment for any concise questions to come through. Okay. We've received a question from Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada, regarding the North Mara allegations of human rights abuses. Could you please comment?

Is that the question?

Well, we've made it concise.

So I mean, Catherine, I'm not sure that -- what the question is you're asking. But on the North Mara human rights abuse allegations, as you know, we've repeatedly asked you to give us evidence which has never been forthcoming. We are always available. We hosted you at the site to come and look and well, offered to host you at the site to come and have a look. And we will continue to consult with people. But right now, I'm a bit lost for exactly what question you're looking to ask. I think while the people look for the questions, I'd continue on that, just for anyone who's interested, if you get on to our website, we've got all the questions and all the inquiries and all the events clearly recorded on the website. So for those who are interested, you can go. As you know, in Barrick, we are absolutely committed to being very clear, transparent and respond to every single accusation. And those are all detailed on our website.

We have a question from George Klaus from Klaus Investment Corp. Do you hedge?

George, the answer is yes, we do, but only under very specific conditions. We will hedge when we build a mine, and we need to secure funding, and we've done that many times in the past. And we will hedge when we close a mine to ensure that we have the margin to be able to progress a mine to closure. But apart from that, between commissioning and closure, we ensure that we invest in world-class assets, as I said earlier, that are capable of surviving the cyclicality of both the copper and the gold industry, so we don't hedge that.

That brings an end to our Q&A.

Thank you very much, everyone. Now, we will turn to the voting results. The scrutineers have confirmed that each of the director nominees named in the information circular has been elected with at least 73% of the votes in favor. The appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditor has been approved with approximately 93% of the votes in favor. And the advisory resolution on the company's executive compensation approach has been approved with approximately 72% of the votes in favor. The shareholder proposal received approximately 25% of votes in favor. And therefore, the proposal has not been approved. Detailed final voting results of all the items of business at today's meeting will be filed on SEDAR+. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for attending our annual meeting.

This concludes today's meeting. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.