Barrick Secures 15-Year North Mara Licences as Gold Output Slumps 47% - ChemAnalyst

AI desk brief

Tanzania has renewed Barrick’s North Mara licences for 15 years, removing a key operating risk for one of the company’s main gold assets and supporting future investment/expansion plans. The market-relevant wrinkle is that North Mara’s attributable output fell 47% y/y in H1 2026 to 68,000 oz, while AISC jumped 79% to US$2,283/oz, underscoring near-term operational stress despite long-term tenure security.

Barrick kept full-year North Mara guidance at 200,000-230,000 oz and AISC at US$1,520-US$1,680/oz, implying a required H2 production rebound to 132,000-162,000 oz. The mine had 3.2Moz of proven and probable reserves at end-2025, so the licence renewal improves the investment backdrop, but the immediate supply impact depends on whether Barrick can fix ore-grade and processing bottlenecks.