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Barrick to focus on gold exploration, acquisitions in '09

March 04, 2009 - 15:23 GMT Location: London

KEYWORDS: Barrick Gold , Aaron Regent , Nadia Cavallaro , etfs

Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold producer, is committing $140 million to further exploration this year and will focus on acquiring more gold operations

At his first presentation to the market in London on Tuesday after six weeks in the job, he said Barrick is in a favourable financial position, allowing it to acquire new assets while the market conditions are positive.

The company, which has cash reserves at $1.4 billion and a credit line of $1.5 billion, will invest most of the $140 million for exploration in brownfield projects, Regent told delegates at the presentation.

“80% of the allocation [will go] towards exploration at existing operations and 20% at greenfield sites,” he said. “The company’s strategy for 2009 will be to invest in exploration, project development and acquisitions.”

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