Welcome to Barrick 20 24th Quarter Results Conference Call. During the presentation, all participants are in listen only mode. The following presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. The conference call. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded and a replay will be available on the Barrick's website later today, February 18, 2021.
I would now like to turn you over to Mark Bristow, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you very much, and good morning and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome again to our presentation of Barrick the We delivered on our production guidance, the And at the same time, we continue to our key projects. Amongst the Pueblo Viejo Expansion Plan, the Turquoise Ridge of the Gold Rush operation declines and the underground mine at Gounkoto. The We have moved our understanding of our ore bodies by putting geology front and center, and we can now optimize our mine plans the on firm foundations. The sale of non core assets generated the $1,500,000,000 we promised.
The And by cleaning up our portfolio, we aligned it with our strategic focus of Tier 1 minutees. Our world class business needs a global presence, able to operate Tier 1 assets the in any jurisdiction, which means that some of our operations are located in more the geopolitical domains. In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, last year, we also We had to deal with the Argentina financial crisis, a coup in Mali, the major impact of political the in the DRC and the closure of Paul Grath in Papua New Guinea. Barrick has clearly demonstrated that it can manage risks across a broad range of assets with the leadership capable the not only of running a large and complex business, but also of recognizing and realizing new opportunities. The Please take note of this cautionary statement.
And for those who need more time to review, the key in the past year's performance the Was the effectiveness of our ESG strategy, which is powered at all levels the by a long established partnership philosophy and our close relationship with all our stakeholders from investors to the This was evident in very successful COVID containment programs, the which buffered the impact of the pandemic on our business and our people and also enabled us to provide the much needed and welcome support to our host countries. E in the most of the attention recently. But I would argue that its social dimension is as important. The particularly concerned that the issue of poverty, arguably the The greatest problem facing mankind is not more prominently on the agenda. The world's poorest people Livent's employees and easing their lot will require global and not just the conference.
This is not to say that we should underestimate the gravity of the environmental challenge. Barrick has a clear road map for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which is based on climate sites the operational realities rather than wishful thinking or long dated aspirations. Our landmark targets listed here are under constant review. The All our operations have practical plans for transitioning to cleaner and more efficient energy sources the And water management. And we are cognizant of the necessity to innovate new power plants for our future mines.
The In short, Veric aspires to be an industry leader in ESG as in other things. This is our health and safety scorecard for 2020. And as you can see, There was a significant improvement with both lost time and total recordable injuries decreasing by big margins. The Unfortunately, as previously disclosed, an otherwise impeccable record the tragic fatality at Kibali in November of 2020. The There were no high severity environmental incidents across the group during the year, and the number of medium severity events the As these numbers show, we continue to reduce our emissions and improve our water usage the water we return the The photographs on the right show one example the of the difference we've made since taking over North Mara, where one of our priorities was to the water management plan.
Our social license to operate requires the goodwill of our host communities the and is closely aligned with our partnership philosophy. During 2020, the fully functional community development committees were established at all our operational sites, And they were instrumental in deciding how best to invest the more than $26,000,000 we spent the call. The Last year, we set ourselves very specific objectives. As you can see here, we ticked all those boxes. The We met our production target, delivered on our business plans and fully capitalized on the higher gold price and copper prices.
The We increased free cash flow to an annual record of $3,400,000,000 against the 27% rise in the gold price. And we achieved our goal of 0 net debt by the end of the year. It's worth calling that as recently as 2013, Barrick was burdened by debt of more than the The quarterly dividend has also tripled since the merger the And since it was announced more than 2 years ago, we've, as I said, tripled quarterly dividend. And in addition to the quarterly dividend, as you all have read today, we are proposing a capital return to shareholders of $750,000,000 to be paid in 3 chance tranches the This return is sourced from the proceeds of the sale of our stake in Kalgoorlie the call, as well as other non core assets since 2019, in line with our policy of returning surplus funds to our shareholders. The solid operating results were driven by another performance from the Pueblo Viejo, the Dominican Republic, the ramp of Bulion Hulu in Tanzania and the continued improvement at the Turquoise Ridge complex in Nevada.
As I noted earlier, production was at the midpoint of guidance, the And total cash costs and all in sustaining costs were within the guidance despite higher royalties due to the gold price. Our record free cash flow and 0 net debt are particularly gratifying features of the numbers, the as are the very significant returns we delivered to our shareholders. The also noting that Moody's has upgraded our rating Baa1, which is in line the gold sector. It's my view that the consolidation of the gold industry is not yet complete. The And as these numbers show, Barrick is well equipped to play a big part in future developments.
Now to North America and our operations there. We start with a 5 year outlook for that region. The Our advancing our ore body knowledge, keeping the production profile the call and managing all in sustaining costs. This is consistent with our November Investor Day with some the into both 2021 2022. The There are also some opportunities to implement that Scott will touch on in the next few slides.
The In Nevada, the best potential for near to medium term life of mine are at North Levo, the Fourmile and Goldrush as well as the Wren project at Goldstrike. The The best opportunities for significant new discoveries are in the area between Turquoise Ridge the and Twin Creeks between Pipeline and Robertson and at the Cortez the I have great expectations the for the North Levo area, and the team is currently prioritizing the improvement of the geological model the and drilling to accelerate the delivery of ounces into the Kallen Mining Plan. The results to date from 5 of 7 drill holes have confirmed at least 2 emerging high grade areas, the above the average reserve grade at LIBOR. Drilling closer to the existing mine infrastructure the continues to extend the turf core body to the north and the west. The Carlin complex the is richly endowed with gold deposits.
And this flagship asset has some very exciting opportunities, the In 2020, the Carlin complex delivered at the midpoint of its production guidance the And also kept costs well within the guidance range. This year and the next, we'll see substantial investment in the future. The In addition to growing ounces through exploration at North Leeville, Rita K and Wren, the introduction of improvements to increase processing options as well as lower costs also on the agenda. Like Carlin, the Cortez complex has a wealth of opportunities for expansion and growth. The Gold Rush and Fourmile Discoveries are good examples of our policy of first understanding the geological framework the And then building the exploration programs around that.
At Fourmile, The improved confidence in our geological understanding is demonstrated by our first declaration of an indicated resource, the While still growing the inferred resource to 2,300,000 ounces at around 11 grams per ton by including Sofia. The I have no doubt that this resource will grow once we drive the development from Goldrush and infill drill the Fourmile project. The Still in the Cortez complex, Pipeline Crossroads the is a world class legacy deposit, and we continue to grow the resources at the Robertson deposit. We are also progressing the feasibility work at Robertson, while taking a closer look at what lies between them. Cortez itself exceeded the top end of its production guidance last year.
The Goldrush project is on track to expose its first ore in the first half of this year. And the government's record of decision is now expected in the Q1 of 2022 rather than the of this year. This, however, will not impact the mine plan with the focus now on better understanding of the ore body the As we open it up, while we finish the underground feasibility study for the standalone Goldrush portion. We're exploring the possibility, as I indicated earlier, of reducing the cost and timing of drilling at Fourmile through underground access the Once Goldrush and Fourmile are up and running, they will boost the Cortez Complex's annual production the the Turquoise Ridge has highest grades in the industry, but was developed as a low tonnage, the high grade mine and not based on a proper geological model. The This project and mine represents a significant opportunity for improvement.
It has 2 huge deposits the at either end of an 8 kilometer trend, both with a historically poor geological understanding the We've done a great deal of work on this the Since the formation of Nevada Gold Mines, and we're starting to generate new targets in what was thought to be the maturing district. As shown in the section, the newly discovered midway fault between Turquoise Ridge and Twin Creeks the Could be an important district sale mineralization control. The The Turquoise Ridge Complex has been struggling and production for the year fell short of guidance. There was a marked turnaround, however, in the Q4, and ongoing optimization should deliver further improvements the Q4 of the the 3rd shaft remains on schedule and within budget with commissioning plan for late 2022. The The shaft is designed to be able to increase hoisting capacity, improve the ventilation the Still in Nevada, the Phoenix and Long Canyon are small but very efficient low cost operations, the both exceeding the top end of production guidance and delivering exceptional margins.
North of the border and our home country, Canada, HEMLO has made a remarkable journey the From survival mode to a potential Tier 2 minutee. At the time of the merger, We doubted whether it was actually a profitable asset. But after unpacking the geology And rebuilding the models, we found many opportunities, not only to turn it into an efficient the underground operation, but also to build its reserves and extend its life. The Most notably, recent drilling has indicated the potential for a discrete parallel mineralized structure to the west of the main C zone. Further drilling is planned in 2020 to improve the geological understanding the Last year, Hemlo beat the top end of its production guidance.
The And this year, a separate portal development will access its Upper C zone, providing a third mining front the and increased flexibility. Mining there is expected to begin in the second half of this year. The Latin America is a region with many challenges, mainly legacy issues the That impact on our social license to operate, but also an abundance of opportunities. The We've put a lot of work into fixing our businesses and relationships there. And last year, I personally visited the region the Four times with Mark Hill, who leads that region of Barrick to review progress at our operations the And also to meet with governments and community leaders and really invest in our new management teams across that region.
The All the problems have been or are being addressed, and even the situation in Papua New Guinea the is progressing to what I trust will be a reasonable, exceptional acceptable resolution to Barrick as well as the government. In the meantime, we have left Porgera out of our guidance the and intend to add it back once we are able to reach agreement with the various stakeholders in Papua New Guinea, including the I would also point to the reduced production forecast the call at Veladero compared to what we shared with you at our November Investor Day. This is mainly due to the transition plan to the new Phase 6 to 10 project from the old Valley Leaching Facility we have only recently finalized the We have a new exploration and new business team for the region and as a result are working to the to expand our footprint and open up new opportunities across South America. I also refer you to Tuesday's announcement on the sale of Lagunas Norte, which is this is in Peru, Which is part of our continued rationalization of our portfolio that does not fit with our long term the Investor Relations. At Pueblo Werco, new targets have been identified, the And a particularly interesting one is being developed south of the Moa pits within the joint venture mining lease.
The Also, our recently established Pueblo Grande project immediately adjacent to the PV the has secured a strategically important parcel of land, which is critical for PV's expansion plan. The Pueblo Viejo staged a great second half recovery, posting a mill throughput record for the 2nd straight year to the to achieve its production guidance. The expansion project will realize the operation's full potential the By unlocking just over 9,000,000 ounces of gold currently excluded from reserves due to the lack of adequate tailings and storage facility. The plant is being upgraded to the to handle throughput of 14,000,000 tons per annum. And as a consequence, we are planning to process the More stockpile material there this year.
This is the reason for slightly lower production guidance compared to 2020 the and is in line with the forecast disclosed at our November Investor Day. The team is continuing its work with the new government and the community to secure land for the new TSF. The work associated with the TSF the Geotechnical and Feasibility Study is expected to be completed this year. The In Veladero, Pascua Lama District, a drilling program to test the The link between the underlying deposit, geology and metallurgical characteristics the Around Veladero, there are still a number of untested opportunities to expand the resource and reserve base the the In the El Indio region, short of a new greenfields discovery, our strategy is to build a critical mass the of smaller deposits to create a mining complex capable of meeting our criteria. The As we reported earlier, Veladero's production was impacted by the pandemic related quarantine the and movement restrictions imposed by the Argentine government.
This also temporarily the delayed the mine's transition to the new Phase VI heap leach facility, which is on track for completion now the As agreed upon with the government, the Keep leach processing will be reduced during the transition, impacting production. However, the mine's performance is expected to improve in the second half of the year after the new facility has been commissioned. Veladero's connection to the Chile's power grid at Pascua Lama should be completed by the end of this year as well, which will also reduce the unit costs for the operation. In Papua New Guinea, We have been engaging the government in discussions to seek a mutually acceptable way forward for the reopening of the Paul Graham Mine, Which as you know has been in maintenance since the government refused to renew its special mining lease the in April 2020. I am, in fact, speaking to you from the Capital Port Moresby the Today, where the discussions are occurring.
If all goes well, Porgera should reopen this year. The But for the time being, as I said in my introduction, we have excluded it from Barrick's 2021 guidance. The Africa and Middle East region has largely, as expected, driven the post merger repositioning and reinvigoration of Barrick. Its 5 year plan remains intact the steady while costs and CapEx coming down. And there are plenty of opportunities to the Our immediate objective For that region is to either extend the life of mine of Tongan or replace its production after 2023.
The The Loulo district in Mali is still our prolific generator of new ounces. The Loulo Gounkoto again more than replaced depleted reserves last year, and there are big opportunities the Despite the political unrest in Mali. The complex exceeded the top end of its production guidance, highlighting again the importance of our strong in country partnerships and the agility of its management. The Its 10 year outlook is enhanced by the complex's 3rd underground mine below the very profitable Gounkoto pit, the which is on track to deliver its 4 first ore development tons in quarter 2 the And studies for a potential 4th underground mine at Loulo-three are progressing. The Our exploration group is also making good progress on advancing the targets across Senegal the On our Bombardier joint venture.
In Cote d'Ivoire, the Brownfields exploration has added 3 years to Tongon's life and a recent the with the potential to meet our criteria, annex, the Situated 15 minutes from Tongan, the Mercator target the the reserve conversion. The Cote d'Ivoire remains an attractive destination because of its prospectivity the and relatively sophisticated infrastructure. And we continue our generative opportunities throughout the country the With the aim of increasing our new ground holdings. For reasons beyond its control, the Tongon has led a troubled life, but it has always managed to be very profitable. And last year, the It exceeded its budgeted production for the first time in its history.
Its extended life of mine plan has been supported the by additional exploration optionality in exchange for a lower production profile at slightly higher costs. The Kibali grew its total reserves net of depletion for the successive the year. Kibali was initially planned to progress to underground only mining, but the discovery the of a series of significant open pit deposits has allowed us to gain processing flexibility the By balancing the ore feed over the mine's 10 year plan. As I stated, the plan increases the mine's gold production to more than 750,000 ounces a year the Kibali produced the top end of its guidance range in 2020, while total cash costs and all in sustaining costs the Kibali is the most highly automated underground mine the Barrick Group and a global leader in this field, which enables it to maximize its opportunities the Its 3 hydropower stations keep its energy costs down the And the recent introduction of a battery driven power performance system offers a further reduction of diesel generated power. Turning now to Tanzania.
We've achieved a great deal in this country since taking over the operations of the Acacia mines there. On the exploration front, the The focus on getting a proper understanding of the geology is delivering exceptional results the With North Mara increasing its mineral reserves net of depletion in 2020, while a substantial growth of resources the Operationally, the North Mara continues to improve, achieving production at the upper end of its guidance. The There's still a lot to do to realize this mine's full potential, starting with the new oxygen plant the And an upgrade of the cyclone cluster to increase recovery rate. I believe once we've brought North Mara and Bulianulu to the into the lower half of the cost curve, we'll be able to deliver another Tier 1 complex in Varex portfolio. The exploration at Bulianulu is producing some very encouraging results.
The And as our understanding of that orebody improves, it's becoming clear that it's of world class proportions the With a measured and indicated resource of some 4,300,000 ounces and an inferred resource the of 8,300,000 ounces and still lots to do to achieve profitable conversion to reserves. The The ramp up of the underground mining and processing at Boulianhulu is on track the And we'll continue through the first half of the year, reaching steady state annualized production into 2022. The In the meantime, the feasibility study for an optimized mine plan is being progressed. The Our 3rd Tanzanian mine, Bwazwazi, is scheduled to enter care and maintenance on its way to closure the Q3 of this year. Armed by the introduction the of On-site Mineral Resource Management and an intensifying focus on geology.
The We've spent the 2 years since the merger improving our knowledge of the legacy Barrick ore bodies. The We've made significant progress in developing life of mine optimizations based on high confidence geological models, the As well as new operating plans, ounce profiles and cost forecasts. The When excluding the impact of the disposal of Massawa, our total resources grew in 2020 as expected the Off the back of increasing inferred resources, while 76% of reserves the We replaced net of depletion. This was also done while maintaining our above industry average the resource and reserve grade and is a testament to our focus on ore body quality, the As our understanding of the ore bodies increases the And as our drilling coverage improves, the potential for resource conversion to reserves will grow. But it will take some time for the group to reach the replacement levels of the Africa and Middle East region.
It's also worth noting that we have continued to clean up our portfolio with a focus on assets and opportunities the that meet our specific strategic objectives and investment focus. This is in line with our commitment to look to attract the best people to work with us to develop and mine the best assets in order to deliver long term the Sustainably Profitable Results. Our 10 year guidance the is an important tool to manage our sustainable profitability strategy. This year's production, As I've indicated, we'll be impacted by the continued closure of Porgera and the heap leach transition at Veladero. But there are significant opportunities ahead for improvement.
And as I noted earlier, the We have reason to believe that the Porgera issue could still be resolved positively. The The 5 year outlook for copper is also positive with all the trends as you see in this slide the Our copper portfolio made another significant contribution to the group's bottom line last year. Though the advancement of Zaldivar's chloride leach project was impacted by COVID-nineteen restrictions in Chile. Livana in Zambia produced near the top end of its guidance, the And Jabal Said exceeded its guidance. Costs for the overall copper portfolio were better or at the bottom the The change of copper reserves year on year principally reflect depletion the mining.
With La Manha now operationally stable, there is significant exploration potential to the to grow resources and reserves on the property, while extensions on load 1 at Jabal Said the the As many of you know, Livana has a colorful history, starting with its acquisition as part of the Equinox deal and followed by years of operational disappointments. The What the African and Middle East team has done with this asset is quite remarkable the and summarized on this slide. Through diligent operational stewardship focused on people, efficiencies, cost discipline and sound geological and grade control practices, the This mine now boasts a long life and significant future cash flow generation potential. The Over the space of just 2 years, production has increased by 23%, costs have been reduced by 25% the And at around $3.50 copper price, which is a little below where it is today, the mine could produce in excess of $250,000,000 in free cash flow per annum for many years to come. A real testimony to the Barrick operating philosophy.
The The new Barrick's foundational objective was to build a business capable of delivering the industry's best returns. The 2 years on, we've made considerable progress towards that goal. The dividend has tripled, the Cash flows have increased to record levels and a once crippling debt burden has been lifted. The These achievements were produced on the foundation of a great asset base, a fit for purpose corporate structure the And a lean and agile leadership who have more than lived up to our best people mantra. We've had our fair of challenges, of course, and then some, but we've overcome them.
The We found or created new opportunities to support our sustainable profitability strategy, the And we're more than ready to exploit the openings that will be offered by the dynamics the And finally, as is customary, how is the look back on our performance the While I firmly believe there is significant value left in our share price the Before any further improvements or growth prospects, we have already demonstrated the clear outperformance. As can be seen from this chart, Barrick's share price has outperformed for the past 30 months. The A shareholder in either Randgold or Barrick at the time of the merger would now be some 30% the ahead of the GDX. Importantly, we are just at the beginning of an exciting the Thank you, everyone, for listening, and thank you for your attention. The I've got a good spread of executives on the call to assist me in any questions.
So We'd be happy to pass back to the operator and take questions.
The the Our first question comes from Josh Wolfson of RBC Capital Markets.
Mark, I noticed there were a couple of headlines today on the topic of M and A and consolidation, and the company sort of reiterating its interest the And being part of those discussions as well as some views on copper. Could you sort of, I guess, the Update us with what the views are more specifically, I guess, in terms of Barrick's owned copper portfolio and then maybe How you look at these opportunities in the context of the market today with there being a pretty material difference in how copper prices outperformed the Hi, Josh. So I think the best way for me to answer that question, which is pretty broad, is Take you back to 2,008, 2009, 2010, 2011. We're in a very similar place today. And the It was a transformational period for Randgold Resources at that time, an increasing gold price.
The Notwithstanding that, we did do a very critical deal right in the middle of a big bull market the Q1 of 2019 and ultimately led to the Kibali mine of today. The At the same time, we had a big capital program. We were building out on Tongan as well. The And so we use that opportunity not only to expand our business, the And you've seen the same focus this time around. We've brought the debt the We have no net debt now.
And we've started a dividend policy already before the gold price started moving. The This has allowed us to return more to our shareholders as we did in the 2,009, 'ten. In fact, the It started in 2,008, a 13 year successive increase in the dividend the We paid despite the ups and downs of the gold price. And Barrick is at that point. We've got we have committed to the returning about a 3.6% yield on the share price of a couple of days ago the With the proposed $750,000,000 capital return that we shared with you today.
And at the same time, we're not putting the company into any sort of debt, a net debt. The We've got lots of liquidity. We've built out our exploration teams in all three regions, very solid leadership. I think we've demonstrated that the Our mineral resource management and our planning capabilities are now well entrenched. And our executive teams, Led by Catherine, Mark and Willem, certainly can all take on an extra asset or in the case of the Latin and Asia Pacific, probably more than 1, Mark would say.
So we're well positioned. We've got the strongest balance sheet in the industry. It's still growing. And so now it's about the Making sure that we deliver it deliver that value to our shareholders in a proper and considered basis. The And again, the question I would ask is, in this bull market that we find the And everyone's begging for more and more money to be returned to the shareholders, very few people investing in their own future, the Everyone harvesting.
And this is a cyclical business. We're up there near the top of the cycle. The And managing this is it requires some conservatism the and we think that we've certainly experienced this. The We've got good memories, particularly Graham and I and the other executives in my team. And so the Now and there are lots and lots as you know, Josh, there are lots and lots of businesses, whether it's copper or gold, the Just 3 years ago, certainly were on the watch list.
And suddenly, they are there's no risk the And so with that comes opportunity. As you know, the discussions between Barrick and Randgold started in late 2015 and took some time to find a deal which really delivered real benefits for all the owners of both companies. And so we are not everyone, as you see in the market today, everyone, the Every time you wake up, there's a different opinion that's considered to be the only opinion on where the markets are going to go And what's going to happen to gold and where you should be putting your money. And we the We believe that the Short or near term to mid term outlook on global markets are not clear. Forward for a stronger gold price is still very well embedded in the market.
And we certainly haven't seen the consequence of the This unprecedented quantitative easing that we've witnessed in the last 9 months, orders of magnitude of what we So that's, first of all, the way we frame our business. Now you look at how you grow. The best way to grow in times like this, of course, is organically. The And one of the things that I hope I shared with you through this presentation is every single core asset in Barrick the has real upside that you can demonstrate, both and in particular, most of them new discoveries as well as brownfields extensions. So that's the core component of our business.
And of course, there are and going to be further consolidation opportunities. And we believe that the challenge of doing those transactions It's going to not only be commercial, but also the ability to be able to deliver a more aligned, more modern the comfort to the owners, the long term owners of these companies. And so the Again, I started out with the sharing of our ESG strategy, which I believe that ultimately is going to become a Key driver in one's ability to transact going forward. Coming to your so that's gold side, and that's our core business. On the copper side, the Again, we've demonstrated that we're capable of managing and delivering the real value in the copper space.
Lemana has got a long history of poor performance. We've been able to rebuild it the And we've always said, our focus on copper is first prize. The The copper comes with gold and younger gold copper geological terrains. The And secondly, that we would pursue copper assets where they are located in countries where we have the and can demonstrate a competitive advantage over the traditional copper miners. And we believe the That sort of Central African Copper Province offers that opportunity for us.
The At the same time, down in South America, there's lots of copper potential that comes with gold in the the Gold Copper Porphyries. And our exploration teams out into the Asia Pacific Also pursuing opportunities where, again, that geological association is clear. The So we're not I think the market responds as though just because we talk about growth the Then we talk about the importance and significance of for Barrick to remain relevant in the Industry that needs to broaden into copper as being that we're going to sort of go out there and just buy the first copper assets or company regardless of The opportunity to deliver value to both the target owners as well as our own. So We're not going to do that. You've walked this path with me for a long time, Josh.
The We got too many checks and balances in my executive team to go out there and do something stupid. So watch the space,
Our next question comes from Mike Parkin of National Bank. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. One I had was, we're seeing quite a cold snap come down through the U. S. I was wondering if there's been any negative impact to the Nevada Gold Mines operations due to that cold or is it anything that you would Expect to maybe drive a bit of a soft Q1 or something that would probably bounce back with the resumption of kind of normal temperatures?
The Yes, Mark. I would just say that where our operations are located in Nevada, it's flipping cold this time of the year, Regardless of whether they're cold snaps, we don't know just a cold snap, it's just cold. We look forward to the odd sunny day. The So it's a bit like West Africa when you have 3 months of rain where you get 1 meter dumped on you. We don't see it appropriate to use weather to the Our team is well equipped to manage weather in Northern Nevada, just like the We are in the Andes in South America.
So, you definitely won't see anyone
the And one last question on the to your employees at a faster rate than government programs or are you looking at it to just leave it the With the governments of your respective host countries and go that route.
Well, we the partner with our host countries and in the case of Nevada, our host state the On combating COVID and its impact. And Bar 2 operations, we now have COVID Partnership led PTR Laboratories, which support our the protocols and that we can turn around accurate tests in a couple of hours. The And that's been very helpful. We got 2 more to really roll out on a laboratory in Tanzania, which we're working on the And one in Zambia. We've just put 1 into Hemlo as well.
So or into the town of Marathon. The So that's and again, in all our countries, we are very much part of the COVID task force. The And our senior executives have now been included in the the vaccine logistics and sort of management structures in our various regions the and host counties or provinces. Catherine is very much part of that initiative in Canada as well as in Nevada, as is Greg in the immediate part of our the ALCO and Imaka region in Northern Nevada. And in Africa, we're part of the the whole African Union initiative to source and support the rollout of vaccines.
It's a little more complicated there. The There's been some movement recently, and we've seen the first Johnson and Johnson vaccines coming into South Africa, And we look forward to be able to manage that into the across the nations, across the countries in which we operate in Africa. South America, we were early partners with the Dominican Republic in the Setting up structures to purchase and order vaccines and get them into the country. We've got a very strong relationship the It worked extremely well as one of our most responsive COVID initiatives the As you know, Dominican Republic is being a holiday destination, but hit very hard the And then we are working again with the Argentinian government on sourcing vaccines. Again, all the emerging and developing worlds are slightly behind the developed the to manage a global solution on the vaccine rollout.
And so, no, we are part of it. At this stage, the It is not possible for private enterprises to purchase vaccines themselves, but we are partnering the And already, for instance, in Nevada, we're talking about the Rolling out some of the vaccines to the critical support staff within the mining industry as well as other industries. So It's a very collaborative initiative and we're I mean, it's been an impressive partnership the Across all thirteen of our host countries, and I'm optimistic about bringing this the pandemic under control in the medium term. It's definitely not going to happen as quickly as everyone would have liked. The And so it's very important we all continue to exercise discipline and respect the protocols of social distancing, etcetera, until such time as we get a herd immunity entrenched in our population.
Our next question comes from Danielle Seigmeira of Bernstein. Please go ahead. The
My first question is on your climate targets. So they seem significantly more ambitious than the Investor Day. And so could you give us any color on specific projects or specific actions that you're planning, the which will lead to those higher reductions in greenhouse gases.
So Daniel, the We are ambitious. I mean, we are very clear that our target is to achieve a 30% reduction by 2,030. And the Yes. I think the net zero target out to 2015 is a bit academic at the moment because the I don't think it's well, I know there's no gold mining company that goes to 2,050 in the current plans. But the Important is that we, I and my team, my large team now, the I've always been absolutely clear that we manage our business on tangible plans.
So there's a target. Everyone's the being under pressure to accept that they're targeting X, Y and Z. That doesn't mean anything if you don't have a real plan the And so we started out with a plan to deliver a 10% reduction last year in our 20 2019 sustainability report. We've now increased that to 15% production. We've got a serious plan.
Every single one of our operations has got a very specific greenhouse gas strategy, whether it's Veladero where we're rolling out the connection with the to the Chilean the power grid, which is the has more sustainable power component to any other the And so that really does take away the significant emissions and also drops our costs materially in Baladero. In Dominican Republic, we are the leader the In that country with the conversion from heavy fuel to natural gas, driving big turbines, very efficient, very low emissions and not only for our customers at PV but also In Nevada, we bought with the joint venture, the Newmont Coal Power Station. We have already well down the road on converting that to the natural gas. And also, we are busy permitting a 200 Megawatt solar power station, which will be linked to that natural gas power facility. And we've got another second one as well.
In Kibali, which is our youngest mine in the group the That we built on the back of hydropower installations. And recently, as I mentioned in my speech, we've added a big battery to that. The And we've learned so much about how to form a grid, a mini grid the in a remote place like the jungle and DRC. And that battery technology has proved to be invaluable, and we're now looking at Changing around the whole construction of our grid and using the battery as the the formation to form the grid and the power, the hydropower to actually keep the batteries charged. And the Kibali is unique and has got a big hoist and it's constantly drawing large amounts of power from the grid.
The What we've learned there, we've just commissioned a 20 megawatt solar power station in Marilla, in Western Mali, the And we now have an opportunity to install similar battery technology in sorry, not Marlin, in Loulo, Gounkoto the And be able to form the grid and use the solar to keep those batteries powered and therefore do away with a lot more of the diesel and heavy fuel powered component of our power station there. The So and then the opportunities in, Forgera has natural gas power the And there's more and more opportunities now as people start investing in hydro in Papua New Guinea, which has got some very exciting potential sites for hydropower, particularly up in the Highlands. So when you walk through our portfolio, I've just given you a quick the Russia what? And of course, you can't just say I'm going to reduce power. You've got to be able to plan to do it.
The And one of the things that Barrick is investing in is that technology to ensure that the next new mine rebuild There's even more efficiency built into it as far as generation goes compared to, for instance, kebali. The So we're learning every day. And I believe that if we continue with that focus and every single General Manager, Senior Executive in Barrick is an owner of this commitment to our stakeholders. The I hope that answers your question.
Okay. That's very useful color. Thank you. Just one more from me. On Tanzania, you about making North Mara possibly a Tier 1 minutee.
And I'm trying to conceptualize how that happens. Is it the case that some of the geological upside results in a different way of operating those mines, like in a border complex. How should I be thinking about that?
The 300,000 ounces out of North Mora and more than about 250,000 ounces out of the Bully and Houlou add them together, that's $550,000 and that Northmor is a moderate grade mine. The Bully is a high grade mine. We drive the cost down to the bottom half of the cost curve and you've got a Tier 1 complex the combined in the country and they both have more than 10 years life substantially more than 10 years life. The So that's really our focus. And what's Northmorrows got a bit of a way to get to that lower end of the
Our next question comes from Mike Jallonen of Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Hi, Mark. I hope all is well and You're not facing a cold snap in Port Moresby. Just moving to a question on Hemlo, the intrigued by the steady state, the 1,900,000 tons per annum production. What are they how much tons will come from each of the mining fronts the To get to that production level. And what would that mean to the mine production?
Thanks.
The Right now, Mike Housserten, no chance of a cold snap here and Fort Morsby, I can assure you. Buckets of water, yes. About the coldest you get is when you turn the air conditioner down to about the The CHEMLO is outlook this year is about the 210,000 ounces. And the plan is to get it up to about 250,000 ounces from underground. And that's why we need that extra access the in the upper sea zone, which we're developing now.
And I mean, you can do the math, just work it back. The It's really it's a 2 I mean, our first prize would be to the Get it up to 250,000 ounces. As we improve the infrastructure, the hoisting, the The ventilation. One of the big challenges is getting a lot of the waste out of the mine to the to improve our logistics in all movement. Right now, all that is constraining.
We still got to develop the We've got to improve our backfill, and we've still got quite a bit of remnant mining that we're doing the in this next year and perhaps the year follow-up to 2022. But and at the same time, the We're drilling and building that reserve base to support a plus 10 year, plus 250,000 ounce the producer, which makes it a substantial Canadian gold
the
You know that mine well, don't you, Mark?
The please
go ahead. Good morning. So my question is with regards to reserve replacement. So I saw some strong reserve of business at pretty good grains, but I'm going to ask you about the question the areas that lagged a little bit, the next question, particularly at Nevada Gold Mines. And you guys have mentioned that it's going to take a few years to fully see the results to get it up to where you are in Africa in terms of reserve replacement.
So can you give us a little bit of color on the plan forward in the the year or 2 in terms of getting that those grades and those ounces back up.
Yes. So Anita, the Yes. Just trying to explain. I'm not sure about what you're talking about there because the if you look at the North America, we went from 31,000,000 ounces in 20 the This is reserves now at 2.68 grams a tonne to 29,000,000 ounces at 2.8 the So, if you look at Africa, of course, we've grown the Certainly on the back of the Loulo, Boncato and Kibali and North Mara replacements. The Tongon is a tougher nut to crack because it is in decline.
At Boulianhulu, the big growth will come the as we complete the underground feasibility study. So and North America is in good shape. The First of all, you got to build the resource profile, the And we're very disciplined on the grade. And so we've done that. And hopefully, Anita, you would have seen in my presentation me pointing to further resource expansion.
The And you've got to build that front ahead of the mining phases in this in inventory first,
the Then and
then third, ultimately, it gets into measured and indicated, which results in reserve. And the It's going to take some time, but 76% replacement right now with more than 100 the Center placement on the resource category bodes well for us to get all our assets delivering reserve replacement over time. And I'll just take you through it. As I pointed out, PV is a simple case of significant reserve growth. Baladero, we didn't get the drilling done we wanted to the in 2020 because of the restrictions of COVID.
So a lot of that drilling has been rolled over to this year. The And again, we expect to make significant progress the in the Cortesquinas, the 4 quarters expansion of the current Valadero pit. The And then we pointed to North Levo, some significant upside potential. Rita K, We're busy drilling out. We've got the lower part of Rita Kay now coming into the mine plan and reserve Conversion now, the part we're still dealing with the water table and making sure that it's accessible, which means you can bank it.
The Ren, we've got some into our mine plan and reserves, but still quite a lot more outstanding. The There's still work to do in both Turquoise Ridge Underground as well as Twin Creeks. The And then Cortez, as we develop and deliver on the feasibility study For Goldrush, you'll see some significant ounces flowing into that complex. So yes, I'm really Very comfortable about where we are as far as understanding our geology and being able to with some When I go to the mines now, just like I get in Kibali and Nulo, the The MRM team have a plan to convert. So it's part of our business.
And I mean, we even added ounces in Porgera just before it was closed. So and that's got some significant upside. And that's what comes with Tier 1 assets. So the I hope that gives you some comfort. And the most important thing is that the quality of our the resource reserve is still the impact.
And we haven't allowed anything to deteriorate on the back of a higher gold price. We've kept the $1200 discipline.
The Yes. No, I did notice the grades were maintained or if not improved at most
of the assets. I was just drilling into some
of the Long Canyon, Phoenix, Carlin and Turquoise that didn't quite keep pace with the rest of the process. But thanks for your explanation.
Okay. The If you're worried about Long Canyon, remember we've stalled Long Canyon as we recut our permitting. The And so that's looking for the 2nd phase expansion of the life the mine, and that would also impact our reserves. At the moment, we don't have a permit, so it's not coming into the reserve for part of Long Canyon.
The Okay. And then my second and final question, I guess, is a long one. But you've talked about industry consolidation in the gold space. The and I just wanted to understand what exactly it is that catches your eye so much the with the assets that are out there and if you could give us some parameters on what exactly you're looking for and how that competes with your internal projects.
Okay. So I guess the best way is to wind back everything to 2017, early 2018. And you and your portfolio of companies you're covering, a lot of them were very stressed. The And then suddenly everything is utopic with a higher gold price. That doesn't change the long term profitability of our industry.
And then we've got a couple of single asset companies that have Struggle to deliver against their feasibility study, but being kept alive by a higher gold price. The And our industry is right now at a place where it's not worried about its future. The And I point this to both the fund managers who are keeping demanding cash returns, not worrying about how you package, use this higher gold price to package, the repackage our industry, which is required to create a relevant the industry as allocation of capital becomes more sort of larger and more the going forward because the funds are just getting bigger and bigger and they need the dial to be moved more. The And so and at the same time, we've got management teams that are just hanging on to this opportunity using the COVID and the higher gold price to prevent the conversation around consolidation. The So, but it's not going to be like that forever.
We've seen the market respond On the softening gold price, albeit that it's way above the sort of average. The And that's why it's important for Barrick to be to have the strength, financial and management bench strength to be able to Yes, we look at 2 categories of opportunities Tier 1, which is plus 500,000 ounces at the bottom half of the cost the within the bottom half of the cost curve and Tier 2, which is sort of above 250,000 ounces the at the bottom half of the cost curve and both having at least 10 year life of mine potential. The So and in times like this, as I touched on in my presentation, the Motto acquisition we made in 2009 in the middle of the crisis, very the solid, well structured bull market in the gold price. And we did that acquisition. It was a world class acquisition.
The We read it right and it has delivered enormous value to our business. And so the key here is not to buy. And I would and it's a conversation that should be had because just sucking money out of the gold industry He doesn't do anyone any favors. This industry is was very precarious the In 2017, early 2018, it hasn't changed. It's just you can't see it because of the higher margins.
The And so, I think it's important that we and that's why I keep bashing that drum the For beating that drum in that I think we need to do it. And notwithstanding that, as you've seen, Barrick has really invested in its organic opportunities, both brown and greenfields, and we'll continue to do that as well. The Okay.
Thank you. Just wanted to close-up by congratulating you on your cost control. Those are that's a pretty good result considering that the past year and the year going forward. Thank you.
Thank you. And I appreciate that coming from you.
Our next question comes from Matthew Murphy of Barclays. Please go ahead.
The Just wondering if you're still expecting to formalize a dividend payer policy This year, I thought it might have come with this quarter. Is it something you're looking to do early this year?
The Yes. I think it's important I didn't touch on this in another answer is that a lot of debate at the Board and amongst our executive team on how we manage this. Again, if you wind back to 2,008, 'nine and 'ten, the The way we manage that return of capital to shareholders and our dividend strategy, they are very similar this time around. The We have no visibility of how the short to medium term economy or our market the Looks like, and I think we definitely I mean, we realized non core assets, we believe it's important to the It makes logical sense to return that part of that to our shareholders, which I've always done my whole career. The We've used the cash generated by our business to bring down our net debt and cover ourselves the And so that we are completely independent of the capital markets and are able to run the So that's done, and I'm very happy with that.
We will continue to build the cash portion of our the balance sheet through this year if the gold price stays above 1700. And so the And we believe that this whole unprecedented scenario the It is unclear and extremely dynamic, and I'm pretty confident to be able to bet you that The current analyst outlook on what it's going to look like in 12 months' time is all wrong. The And so our Board and in debate with our management team have the Landed on the fact that it's better to return this. It's a significant return added to our $0.09 a quarter, There was about a 3.6% yield at current Gulf share prices, actually a bit higher than today. The And then we'll reassess things next year where I'm sure things will be a lot clearer to everyone.
There are no more questions from the conference call.
Thank you very much the for making the time today. I'm really pleased that we got through this presentation. A lot of people put enormous amount of effort to the into the communications and everyone was really concerned that we might break out communication through this process. So Thanks to everyone that's put effort in. And again, thank you for making the time to join us, and we'll speak to you soon.
The
conference call. Should you have additional questions, please contact the Barrick Investor Relations department. The conference
call.