Latest news with #Goldrush
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Barrick Mining Eclipses 50-Day SMA: What Should Investors Do Now?
Barrick Mining Corporation's B stock broke out above its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) last Friday, flashing a bullish signal. The B stock has gained roughly 6% in a week. This comes on an uptick in gold prices due to heightened trade and geopolitical tensions, triggering safe-haven demand. The Trump administration's plan to double steel and aluminum tariffs to 50% has amped up trade tensions. Further, escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions have led to heightened geopolitical risks. The B stock is also currently trading above its 200-day SMA, suggesting a long-term uptrend. The 50-day SMA is reading higher than the 200-day SMA since the golden crossover on April 9, 2025, indicating a bullish trend. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Barrick's shares have gained 20.3% over the past year, underperforming the Zacks Mining – Gold industry's 52.6% increase while outperforming the S&P 500's rise of 10.8%. Among its gold mining peers, Newmont Corporation NEM, Kinross Gold Corporation KGC and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited AEM have racked up gains of 34.6%, 97% and 85.3%, respectively, over the same period. Newmont's gains are partly aided by the strong production performance of its managed Tier 1 portfolio. Kinross Gold's impressive performance has been driven by its strong operational execution, advancement of growth strategy and consistent strong performance of Tasiast and Paracatu, its two biggest assets. Agnico Eagle's shares have performed remarkably on the bourses, thanks to its forecast-topping earnings performance, higher realized prices and strong production. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Let's take a look at Barrick's fundamentals to better analyze how to play the stock. Barrick is well-placed to benefit from the progress in key growth projects that should significantly contribute to its production. Its major gold and copper growth projects, including Goldrush, the Pueblo Viejo plant expansion and mine life extension, Fourmile, Lumwana Super Pit and Reko Diq, are being executed. These projects are advancing on schedule and within budget, laying the groundwork for the next generation of profitable production. The Goldrush mine is ramping up to the targeted 400,000 ounces of production per annum by 2028. Bordering Goldrush is the 100% Barrick-owned Fourmile, which is yielding grades double those of Goldrush and is anticipated to become another Tier One mine. The project has progressed to a prefeasibility study on the back of a successful drilling program. The Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan is designed to produce 460,000 tons of copper and 520,000 ounces of gold annually in its second development phase. The first production is expected by the end of October 2024, Barrick announced the commencement of the development of a Super Pit at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia. The Super Pit Expansion entails doubling the present process circuit's throughput and substantially boosting mining volumes. Upon completion, the $2 billion project has the potential to transform Lumwana into a long-term, high-yielding, top-25 copper producer and Tier One copper mine. The expansion is expected to deliver 240,000 tons of copper production annually over the life of the mine. Gold prices have rallied roughly 28% this year, courtesy of the aggressive trade policies, including sweeping new import tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, intensified global trade tensions and heightened investor anxiety. Also, central banks worldwide have been accumulating gold reserves, led by risks arising from Trump's policies. Prices of the yellow metal catapulted to a record high of $3,500 per ounce on April 22 amid President Trump's criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and call for an immediate reduction in interest rates. Increased purchases by central banks, hopes of interest rate cuts, and geopolitical tensions are expected to support gold prices. Despite the pullback from the April high due to the U.S.-China trade negotiations, gold prices remain above the $3,300 per ounce level. Higher gold prices should translate into strong profit margins and free cash flow generation for Barrick. Barrick has a solid liquidity position and generates healthy cash flows, positioning it well to take advantage of attractive development, exploration and acquisition opportunities, drive shareholder value and reduce debt. At the end of first-quarter 2025, Barrick's cash and cash equivalents were around $4.1 billion. It generated strong operating cash flows of roughly $1.2 billion in the quarter, up 59% year over year. Free cash flow surged to around $375 million in the first quarter from $32 million in the prior-year quarter. Barrick returned $1.2 billion to its shareholders in 2024 through dividends and repurchases. Barrick's board, in February 2025, authorized a new program for the repurchase of up to $1 billion of its outstanding common shares. It repurchased shares worth $143 million under this program during the first quarter. Barrick offers a healthy dividend yield of 2% at the current stock price. Its payout ratio is 28% (a ratio below 60% is a good indicator that the dividend will be sustainable), with a five-year annualized dividend growth rate of roughly 5.1%. Barrick is challenged by higher costs, which may eat into its margins. Its cash costs per ounce of gold and all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) — the most important cost metric of miners — increased around 16% and 20% year over year, respectively, in the first quarter. AISC increased due to higher total cash costs per ounce and higher minesite sustaining capital expenditures. For 2025, the company projects total cash costs per ounce of $1,050-$1,130 and AISC in the range of $1,460-$1,560 per ounce. These projections suggest a year-over-year increase at the midpoint of the respective ranges. Increased mine-site sustaining capital spending and higher labor costs may lead to higher costs. The company provided a tepid forecast for 2025, with attributable gold production expected in the range of 3.15-3.5 million ounces, excluding production from Loulo-Gounkoto, which is temporarily suspended. While a potential restart of the mine would provide an upside, this projection suggests a year-over-year decline from 3.91 million ounces in 2024. Higher production from Pueblo Viejo, Turquoise Ridge, Porgera and Kibali, along with stable performance across Carlin and Cortez, is projected to be offset by reduced production across Veladero and Phoenix. Lower production is expected to weigh on the company's performance in 2025. Barrick's total gold production fell roughly 19% year over year to 758,000 ounces in the first quarter. Earnings estimates for Barrick have been revised upward over the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 and 2026 has been revised higher over the same time frame. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.) Image Source: Zacks Investment Research B stock is currently trading at a forward price/earnings of 10.67X, a roughly 23.6% discount to the industry's average of 13.97X. It also has a Value Score of A. Barrick is also trading at a discount to Newmont, Agnico Eagle and Kinross Gold. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Barrick's actions to boost production, robust financial health, rising earnings estimates, attractive valuation and a safe dividend yield paint a promising picture. Higher gold prices should also boost its profitability and drive cash flow generation. The stock trading above its 50-day SMA also suggests bullish momentum. However, its high costs and downbeat production outlook warrant caution. Therefore, retaining this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock will be prudent for investors who already own it. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Newmont Corporation (NEM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Barrick Mining Corporation (B) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Daily Maverick
29-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
After the Bell: Why we shouldn't have a national lottery
The main reason we have a national lottery in the first place is that it is supposed to be a good way to finance public goods, a way of getting money to finance things our society should have. But we know that this did not happen while the previous board of the National Lotteries Commission was in charge. Instead, they spent it on their friends and, in some cases, themselves. Sometimes something becomes so much a fact of life that it is easy to forget to question it. I was thinking about that yesterday when the Stock Exchange News Service published an update from Goldrush. It has, quite literally, won the National Lottery. Sizekhaya has been awarded the licence to operate the Fourth National Lottery and Sports Pools for South Africa for eight years, with the licence kicking in on or before 1 June next year. Goldrush is a 50% shareholder in Sizekhaya. Sizekhaya, the official name of the consortium, will make a huge amount of money as a result. The entire company, and those who own it, will change dramatically now. At the same time, given that the stakes involved are so high, it was always inevitable that the losing bidder would go to court. And while Ithuba, the former operator, has not said it will do that yet, it has muttered about consulting its legal team on the decision. I do wonder if the minister who had to make this decision – Parks Tau at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition – might regret one part of his public statement on this. He suggested that it was a 'difficult' decision. At some point, one of the parties might well ask for the record of the decision, and ask him what made it quite so difficult. Considering that the smell of politics was around this entire process almost from the beginning, he might well be asked if it was technically difficult, or politically difficult. But I think this obscures a much more important question. I don't think we should have a national lottery. I think it does us harm as a society. Firstly, so many people spend so much money on it and receive nothing in return. Let me be clear, the chances of winning the main payout are literally nothing. Not mathematically nothing. One in over 20 million to be more precise. But in real life, that's nothing. And look at who is losing their money; so often it's people who desperately need all the money they have. Funnily enough, even most of the people who do win actually don't end up having better lives as a result. Both here and in places such as the UK, the stories of people who win the lottery involve the end of marriages, families and, in some cases, whole communities. The main reason we have a national lottery in the first place is that it is supposed to be a good way to finance public goods, a way of getting money to finance things our society should have. But thanks to the incredibly courageous journalism of Raymond Joseph (who has won multiple awards for his work), we know that this did not happen while the previous board of the National Lotteries Commission was in charge. Instead, they spent it on their friends and, in some cases, themselves. The first bad sign was when the National Lotteries Commission decided that instead of people applying for lottery funding, they would literally go and find organisations and give them money. You don't need a picture book to know what happened next. And it was so brazen. I remember asking the Chief Operating Officer at the time, Philemon Ledwaba, how he could justify his organisation giving money to a group run by his wife. It was on live TV. And he showed a complete lack of conscience about it. It was literally extraordinary. Now, I'm sure defenders of the national lottery will say safeguards can be put in place to stop this from happening again. And no one can say anything negative about the people who currently run the National Lotteries Commission, they're top people and they're trying to clean it up. But the chances of it happening again are, I would suggest, a lot higher than one in 20 million. In fact, given what happens around us so often, I would almost put money on it happening again in the next 15 years. However, I don't think that's the strongest argument against a lottery. I think the strongest argument against it is that it legitimises gambling. Now, I'm lucky, gambling has no interest for me. Once, Sun City gave me some gambling chips as a teenager — they could only be used in the casino and could not be exchanged directly for cash. Being boring, I didn't gamble with them. Instead, I put half on the red and half on the black at the (non-Russian) roulette table. That meant I ended up with what I started with. But in chips that could be exchanged for cash, and off I went. I know for some people, I think many people, it's not like that. They love gambling, the thrill of it, the (mathematically tiny) chance that their lives could suddenly change. We are seeing this happening now in the incredible rise of online gambling. I have no doubt that this will lead to more poverty, the ruin of more families and, even perhaps, some awful suicides.
Eyewitness News
28-05-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Newly-awarded national lottery licence operator Sizekhaya Holdings' ties to ANC questioned
JOHANNESBURG - Sizekhaya Holdings' almost R200 billion lottery win is drawing attention, amid questions over its ties to the African National Congress (ANC). On Wednesday, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition announced the consortium as the 4th national lottery and sports pool licence holder. However, some political parties have raised questions around Sizekhaya's links to businessman and ANC member, Sandile Zungu. Half of Sizekhaya Holdings is owned by betting company, Goldrush Holdings. Zungu was a non-executive director at Goldrush for more than eight years before resigning in 2023. Zungu is a long-standing ANC member and has previously contested for the party's top leadership post in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). While Zungu resigned from Goldrush a year before Sizekhaya was registered, political parties Build One South Africa (BOSA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have questioned his involvement in the deal. BOSA is demanding that a full report be tabled before Parliament detailing the evaluation criteria, scoring system, and outcomes for all submitted bids.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
B vs. KGC: Which Gold Mining Stock is the Better Pick Now?
Barrick Mining Corporation B and Kinross Gold Corporation KGC are two prominent players in the gold mining space with global operations. While gold prices have fallen from their April 2025 highs amid U.S.-China trade negotiations and easing U.S. inflation, they remain favorable, aided by economic uncertainties, and are currently hovering above the $3,200 per ounce level. Amid this backdrop, comparing these two major gold producers is particularly relevant for investors seeking exposure to the precious metals the recent pullback due to easing trade tensions, gold prices have gained roughly 23% this year. The aggressive trade policies, including sweeping new import tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, intensified global trade tensions and heightened investor anxiety, leading to the price rally. Also, central banks worldwide have been accumulating gold reserves, led by risks arising from Trump's policies. Prices of the yellow metal catapulted to a record high of $3,500 per ounce on April 22 amid President Trump's criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and call for an immediate reduction in interest rates. Increased purchases by central banks, hopes of interest rate cuts, and geopolitical tensions are expected to support gold prices. Let's dive deep and closely compare the fundamentals of these two Canada-based gold miners to determine which one is a better investment now. Barrick is well-placed to benefit from the progress in key growth projects that should significantly contribute to its production. Its major gold and copper growth projects, including Goldrush, the Pueblo Viejo plant expansion and mine life extension, Fourmile, Lumwana Super Pit and Reko Diq, are being executed. These projects are advancing on schedule and within budget, laying the groundwork for the next generation of profitable production. The Goldrush mine is ramping up to a targeted 400,000 ounces of production per annum by 2028. Bordering Goldrush is the 100% Barrick-owned Fourmile, which is yielding grades double those of Goldrush and is anticipated to become another Tier One mine. The project has progressed to a prefeasibility study on the back of a successful drilling program. The Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan is designed to produce 460,000 tons of copper and 520,000 ounces of gold annually in its second development phase. The first production is expected by the end of October 2024, Barrick announced the commencement of the development of a Super Pit at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia. The Super Pit Expansion entails doubling the present process circuit's throughput and substantially boosting mining volumes. Upon completion, the $2 billion project has the potential to transform Lumwana into a long-term, high-yielding, top-25 copper producer and Tier One copper mine. The expansion is expected to deliver 240,000 tons of copper production annually over the life of the has a solid liquidity position and generates healthy cash flows, positioning it well to take advantage of attractive development, exploration and acquisition opportunities, drive shareholder value and reduce debt. At the end of first-quarter 2025, Barrick's cash and cash equivalents were around $4.1 billion. It generated strong operating cash flows of roughly $1.2 billion in the quarter, up 59% year over year. Free cash flow surged to around $375 million in the first quarter from $32 million in the prior-year quarter. Barrick returned $1.2 billion to its shareholders in 2024 through dividends and repurchases. Barrick's board, in February 2025, authorized a new program for the repurchase of up to $1 billion of its outstanding common shares. It repurchased shares worth $143 million under this program during the first quarter. Barrick offers a healthy dividend yield of 2.2% at the current stock price. Its payout ratio is 28% (a ratio below 60% is a good indicator that the dividend will be sustainable), with a five-year annualized dividend growth rate of roughly 5.1%. Kinross has a strong production profile and boasts a promising pipeline of exploration and development projects. Its key development projects and exploration programs, including Great Bear in Ontario and Round Mountain Phase X in Nevada, remain on track. These projects are expected to boost production and cash flow and deliver significant value. KGC also completed the commissioning of its Manh Choh project and commenced production during the third quarter of 2024, leading to a substantial increase in cash flow at the Fort Knox and Paracatu, the company's two biggest assets, remain the key contributors to cash flow generation and production. Tasiast remains the lowest-cost asset within its portfolio, with consistently strong performance. Tasiast achieved record annual production and cash flow in 2024 and is on track to meet its full-year 2025 guidance. Paracatu saw a strong start to the year, with first-quarter production rising on strong grades and improved mill recoveries. KGC has a strong liquidity position and generates substantial cash flows, which allows it to finance its development projects, pay down debt and drive shareholder value. The company ended the first quarter with solid liquidity of roughly $2.3 billion. Kinross also generated record free cash flows of around $1.3 billion in 2024, driven by the strength in gold prices and strong operating margins. Free cash flow also more than doubled year over year to $370.8 million in the first quarter. KGC repaid $800 million of debt during 2024 and the remaining $200 million of its term loan in the first quarter, reducing its net debt to around $540 million. Its long-term debt-to-capitalization is 14.4% compared with Barrick's 12.3%. KGC also offers a dividend yield of 0.9% at the current stock price. It has a payout ratio of 14%, with a five-year annualized dividend growth rate of about -0.1%. Year to date, Barrick stock has gained 17.4%, while KGC stock has rallied 50.6% compared with the Zacks Mining – Gold industry's increase of 36.4%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Barrick is currently trading at a forward 12-month earnings multiple of 9.74, lower than its five-year median. This represents a roughly 28% discount when stacked up with the industry average of 13.57X. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Kinross is trading at a premium to Barrick. The KGC stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month earnings multiple of 12.88, below the industry. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for B's 2025 sales and EPS implies a year-over-year rise of 15.2% and 34.9%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2025 have been trending higher over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The consensus estimate for KGC's 2025 sales and EPS implies year-over-year growth of 13.9% and 52.9%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2025 have been trending northward over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.) Both Barrick and Kinross are well-positioned to capitalize on the current gold price environment. Both have a strong pipeline of development projects, solid financial health and strong earnings growth prospects, and are seeing favorable estimate revisions. Barrick appears to have an edge over Kinross due to its more attractive valuation and higher dividend yield. B's lower leverage also suggests lower financial risks. Investors seeking exposure to the gold space might consider Barrick as the more favorable option at this time.B currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), whereas KGC has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Barrick Mining Corporation (B) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
