Barrick Gold cautious, but hopeful on Pascua costs

Thu Jun 4, 2009 4:12pm

* Expects lower steel, labor costs

* No plans to lower $2.8 bln-$3 bln cost estimate (In U.S. dollars unless noted)

TORONTO, June 4 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) hopes to wring cost savings at its Pascua-Lama mine project in Latin America from falling steel prices and looser labor markets, Chief Executive Aaron Regent said on Thursday, but he didn't cut the project's forecast $2.8 billion-$3 billion price tag.

Barrick gave the green light to the massive gold and silver project last month after Chile and Argentina settled a dispute over how to tax the project, which straddles the border between the two countries.

Speaking at an investment conference in New York, Regent said Barrick could realize benefits from the economic slowdown, which has brought down costs of materials. Steel reinforcing bar, for instance, is now going for about $500 a tonne, down from $1,000 a tonne a year ago, he said.

On the labor side, where costs have been stickier, Barrick hopes to save on costs for third-party suppliers, which are in less demand as projects and mines have been put on hold.

"The service industry, whether it be engineering firms or suppliers, had ramped up to supply a massive pipeline of projects across the commodity spectrum," Regent said.

He said equipment suppliers are holding firm on their prices, although wait times for large items have all but disappeared, a shift from a year ago when a miner might have had to wait up to 18 months.

"How long they can do that (on prices) we don't know, but at this point we're not seeing any kind of price relief there," he said.

Regent said he was reluctant to promise a large reduction in costs due to the unpredictability of mine development costs, which until last year had been rising steeply.

"I don't want to leave the impression that (costs) might be $100 to $200 million less. My experience with projects is, if you get some gains over here, you're probably going to give it up somewhere else," he said.

Pascua-Lama holds an estimated 17.8 million ounces of gold and Barrick expects it to produce 750,000 to 800,000 ounces of gold and 35 million ounces of silver annually over its first five years.

Barrick's shares rose 2.7 percent to close at C$41.30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.