In the second half of the year, Barrick Gold is scheduled to start operations in the Pueblo Nuevo mine, which will represent RD$967 million in revenue for the state for the payment of net smelter return (RNF). According to the Ministry of Hacienda, the RNF is a payment that Pueblo Viejo will make, representing 3.2% of gross profits, established as the difference between the income from sales less the direct costs to refine the gold, including transportation.
Diario Libre says that the Canadian mining company has made investments of over US$4 billion in the Dominican Republic, according to company president Aaron W. Regent during a meeting with a Dominican delegation in Toronto last month. Barrick Gold, considered the largest mining company in the world, reported an increase of 45% in its earnings for the third quarter of 2011, pushed by the increase in the prices during the year on the international markets. The company’s net earnings in the third quarter of 2011 increased to US$1.370 billion, equal to US$1.36 a share. This was up from US$942 million, or US$0.94 a share, a year earlier.
For the third quarter of 2011, the company’s gold production totaled 1.93 million ounces, at a production cost of US$453 per ounce. For the end of 2011, Barrick expected to reach its production forecast of between 7.6 and 7.8 million ounces at a cost of between US$460 and US$475 an ounce. Last year, the average price of gold on the international market reached US$1,569.20 a troy ounce, representing an increase of 28.1% compared to 2010 and maintaining the upward trend since October 2009.