Barrick Gold Suspends Operations at Dominican Republic Mine After Landslide; Global Gold Supply Outlook Tightens
May 4, 2026 — Barrick Gold Corporation announced late Sunday that it has suspended all mining and processing activities at its Pueblo Viejo gold and silver operation in the Dominican Republic following a significant landslide that struck the open-pit operation on Saturday evening local time. No fatalities have been reported, but the company said damage assessments are ongoing and a timeline for resuming production has not yet been established.
Scale of the Disruption
Pueblo Viejo is one of the world's largest and lowest-cost gold mines, producing approximately 800,000 ounces of gold annually on a 100%-basis — of which Barrick holds a 60% attributable share alongside Silver Wheaton streaming partner Wheaton Precious Metals. The mine also produces meaningful quantities of silver as a co-product. A full suspension lasting even two to four weeks would remove an estimated 40,000 to 65,000 attributable gold ounces from Barrick's second-quarter output, a material miss against analyst consensus estimates for the period.
In a statement issued before North American markets opened Monday, Barrick said crews are working to assess the structural stability of the affected pit wall and clear access roads that were blocked by debris. The company indicated that its processing plant, located approximately 1.5 kilometres from the slide zone, did not sustain major structural damage, which would allow for faster restart once the pit is declared safe. However, geotechnical surveys typically require several days to complete in terrain of this complexity.
Broader Supply Context
The Pueblo Viejo incident arrives at a sensitive moment for global gold supply. World Gold Council data published last month showed that mine production in the first quarter of 2026 grew just 1.2% year-over-year globally, the slowest quarterly growth rate since 2022. The modest output expansion reflects a combination of factors: ore grade deterioration at several mature operations in Nevada and Western Australia, ongoing permitting delays for new projects in Canada and West Africa, and rising energy and labour costs that have made marginal deposits uneconomic at current capital expenditure levels.
South Africa, once the world's largest gold producer, continues its multi-decade structural decline, with Q1 output from the Witwatersrand Basin falling another 6% compared to the same period a year ago. Strikes at several deep-level shafts operated by Gold Fields and Harmony Gold in January disrupted an additional estimated 25,000 ounces of production that has not been fully recovered. Combined, these pressures have left the global supply picture meaningfully tighter than it appeared six months ago.
Silver Co-Production Impact
Silver markets are also monitoring the Pueblo Viejo suspension closely. The mine produced roughly 4.5 million ounces of silver in 2025, and Wheaton Precious Metals holds a silver streaming agreement on a portion of that output. A prolonged halt would reduce Wheaton's attributable silver deliveries in the quarter, though the company has not yet issued guidance revisions. Silver's dual demand profile — monetary and industrial — means supply disruptions can have an outsized price effect when physical markets are already tight, as they have been in recent weeks.
Analyst Reaction
Analysts at two major investment banks flagged the suspension in Monday morning notes as a potential upside catalyst for gold prices in the near term, particularly if the outage extends beyond two weeks. RBC Capital Markets described Pueblo Viejo as "one of the last high-margin, high-volume assets in the global gold supply chain," noting that replacement ounces at comparable cost profiles are difficult to source in the current project pipeline. BMO's mining team trimmed their second-quarter Barrick output estimate by approximately 5% pending further clarity from the company.
Barrick shares opened down 2.1% in Toronto Monday morning. The company is expected to provide a more detailed operational update by mid-week once geotechnical teams have completed their initial assessment of the slide zone. Investors and market participants will be watching closely for any indication that structural damage to the pit extends the suspension into Barrick's peak summer production period.