Barrick Gold Announces Writedowns of US$3 Billion

Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX) announced preliminary full-year production results for 2015, commenting that it put out 6.12 million ounces of gold. That’s in line with its updated guidance of 6 to 6.15 million ounces.
The company also produced 511 million pounds of copper. That’s within guidance of 480 to 520 million pounds.
Kelvin Dushinsky, president of Barrick, commented:

We are pleased with the solid performance of our portfolio in 2015. In addition, we significantly improved our liquidity and strengthened our balance sheet, meeting our $3 billion debt reduction target through disciplined non-core asset sales, partnerships and free cash flow. As a result, we reduced our total debt by 24 percent last year.

In addition, Barrick announced US$3 billion worth of writedowns:

Barrick is in the process of carrying out its annual accounting impairment review. Preliminary analysis indicates potential goodwill impairment charges of approximately $1.8 billion, and asset impairment charges in the range of $1.0-$1.2 billion primarily related to Pascua-Lama and Pueblo Viejo. For impairment testing purposes, the company will use a gold price assumption of $1,000 per ounce for 2016 and a long-term gold price assumption of $1,200 per ounce.

Click here to read the full Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX) press release.