Barrick Gold Corp. is seeking buyers for its Tongon gold mine in the Ivory Coast in an effort to sell the aging operation when bullion prices are surging.

The world's No. 2 gold miner started working with Toronto-Dominion Bank to identify buyers and solicit bids for the mine in late November, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing confidential matters.

Barrick and TD both declined to comment.

Barrick plans to stop production at the 24-year-old open-pit mine by 2027 given its depleting resources, according to company filings. The mine produced 204,000 ounces last year — about 5% of Barrick's overall gold output for the year. Barrick has a nearly 90% stake in Tongon, with the Ivory Coast government and local investors holding the rest of the operation, 682 kilometers (424 miles) north of the port city Abidjan.

Price Rally

Gold producers have seen higher valuations for mines this year as bullion prices hit successive record highs bolstered by central-bank buying, geopolitical uncertainty and interest-rate cuts. Barrick's rival, Newmont Corp., has brought in $3.9 billion from selling mines in 2024 — almost double its initial divestment target. Newmont's Akyem mine in Africa drew interest from several Chinese firms and was ultimately sold to Zijin Mining Group Co. for $1 billion.

Barrick previously considered selling Tongon in 2019, without avail. The company had signaled it was weighing options for the mature operation during an investor event in November.

"Although we have continued extending Tongon's life, it has become increasingly non-core to Barrick, and therefore we are currently looking at strategic options for this asset," Sebastiaan Bock, Barrick's chief operating officer for Africa and the Middle East, said during the event. Disposing of the asset "will increase the quality of the portfolio and it will reduce the cost profile by more than $50 per ounce."