Barrick's Earnings Increased 35% To $1.2 Billion 

TORONTO, ON - Barrick Gold reported that net earnings for Q2 rose 35% to $1.2 billion from $859 million in the prior year period. Q2 adjusted net earnings increased 36% to a record $1.1 billion from $824 million in Q2 2010, reflecting higher realized gold and copper prices and higher gold sales volumes, resulting in an annualized return on equity of about 21%.

Q2 gold production was 1.98 million ounces at total cash costs of $445 per ounce and net cash costs of $338 per ounce. The Company is on track to meet its 2011 operating guidance of 7.6-8.0 million ounces at total cash costs of $450-$480 per ounce and lower expected net cash costs of $290-$320 per ounce compared to previous guidance of $340-$380 per ounce. Including Lumwana, Barrick expects to produce 455-475 million pounds of copper in 2011 at total cash costs of $1.55-$1.70 per pound.

Gold and copper cash margins expanded significantly in the second quarter, highlighting Barrick's leverage to higher metal prices. Gold cash margins increased 33% to $1,068 per ounce from $804 per ounce in Q2 2010 and net cash margins rose 30% to $1,175 per ounce from $903 per ounce in the prior year period. Copper cash margins rose 39% to $2.51 per pound from $1.80 per pound in the prior year period.

Major exploration programs are advancing at Cortez, Turquoise Ridge, Ruby Hill, and Spring Valley in North America, on early stage targets in the El Indio belt in South America, and at Porgera and on regional targets in the Australia Pacific region. Barrick completed the acquisition of Equinox Minerals in July, adding two quality copper mines and increasing our leverage to strong copper prices while maintaining our gold exposure. Low cost financing has been secured and will enhance the returns from the acquisition. The Company is focused on three areas to realize the full potential of the Lumwana mine, which is located in one of the world's most prolific copper regions in Zambia: operational improvements and efficiencies, a focus on exploration to expand the resource, and an ongoing evaluation to determine the optimal scope of an expansion.

"Operationally and financially, Barrick had a solid quarter, meeting our operating and cash cost targets which resulted in significant margin expansion and record financial results," said Aaron Regent, President and CEO. "We also completed the acquisition and long term financing of Equinox which adds two attractive assets to our portfolio and another source of long term cash flow. Our project pipeline continues to progress with the ongoing construction of Pueblo Viejo and Pascua-Lama and while we are disappointed with the increased capital costs of these projects, their overall economics have improved significantly as a result of much higher gold and silver prices than originally forecasted." The North America region continued to perform ahead of expectations in Q2, producing 0.92 million ounces at total cash costs of $404 per ounce, primarily due to strong performances from Cortez and Goldstrike. Cortez production of 0.42 million ounces at total cash costs of $220 per ounce in Q2 reflects the ramp up of leach pad production, increased mill throughput from de-bottlenecking and the processing of refractory ore at Goldstrike's facilities. The Goldstrike operation exceeded plan in Q2, producing 0.30 million ounces at total cash costs of $511 per ounce on better than expected grades and more ore than anticipated from the open pit, which is anticipated to transition to a higher stripping phase in the second half of the year. Full year 2011 production for the North America region is expected to be 3.30-3.46 million ounces at total cash costs of $425-$450 per ounce. The South American business unit produced 0.45 million ounces at total cash costs of $373 per ounce in Q2. The Lagunas Norte mine in North Central Peru, outperformed expectations, producing 0.18 million ounces at total cash costs of $267 per ounce on positive grade reconciliations. Veladero in Argentina, contributed 0.24 million ounces at total cash costs of $364 per ounce in Q2 and is on track to produce nearly 1.0 million ounces this year. In 2011, South America is expected to contribute 1.80-1.935 million ounces at total cash costs of $350-$380 per ounce. The company's address is 161 Bay Street, Suite 3700, P.O. Box 212,,Toronto, ON, M5J 2S1, 416-861-9911, fax: 416-861-2492, www.barrick.com.