Barrick Gold (ABX.TO, GOLD) was at last look edging higher in early Tuesday trade after saying its Kibali gold mine achieved an "improved performance" in the last quarter of 2024, culminating in the highest yearly throughput since its commissioning.

"This milestone underscores the mine's continued focus on operational excellence and its capacity to deliver strong results," the company said in a statement.

Barrick Chief Operating Officer for Africa and the Middle East, Sebastiaan Bock, said: "2024 was a challenging year which called for a reset and some leadership changes. Despite this, the year has once again demonstrated that Kibali is a consistent and efficient low-cost producer. The mine is well positioned to build on this foundation and deliver strong results in 2025 and beyond."

According to Tuesday's statement, Barrick's management team has been further strengthened and exploration is focused on "highly prospective areas" within the Kibali permit. It said these areas "hold significant potential for new gold discoveries within trucking distance of the plant, aimed at bolstering the mine's reserve pipeline."

"Barrick is also making significant progress on the construction of a 16MW solar plant at Kibali to help reduce its carbon dioxide emissions from 45kt to 24kt per year. Not only is it the biggest gold mine in Africa and a global leader in automation, but it is also fast becoming a model for renewable energy in African mining," Bock said.

Tuesday's statement noted much of Kibali's electricity is already supplied by three hydropower stations, but it said the new solar plant and battery energy storage system, expected to be completed by June this year, will help Kibali cut fuel consumption by 53% while increasing the renewable component of its energy mix from 81% to 85%. Designed to back up the hydropower supply during the region's dry season, it will also allow Kibali to operate with 100% renewable power for six months of the year, it added.

According to Barrick, Kibali has contributed over US$5.7 billion to the Congolese economy to date. Of this, it said, $3 billion has been spent with local suppliers and service providers.

As part of its ongoing efforts to boost local content, Barrick said it continued to work closely with the Congolese regulator, ARSP, to improve opportunities for local companies. All tenders are now published through the mine and ARSP's website, supporting over 500 Congolese companies in the region.

In addition, Barrick has invested heavily in community development projects through its 0.3% of revenue community development fund.

Barrick was up $0.11 or 0.5% at $23.20.